product-assess

Purpose

Tests the assumptions behind a product plan: it lists them with risk type, importance and evidence level, locks probe thresholds before the probes run, runs a premortem, records one decision (build, clarify or stop) and later records the outcome against a measured baseline.

Source Skill purpose

When to use it

Use product-assess when a product plan rests on uncertain assumptions, before a PRD is divided into tasks, or after release to learn from measured outcomes. It lists assumptions with risk type, importance and evidence level, then designs inexpensive probes whose success and failure thresholds are fixed before execution. A premortem and independent strategy review challenge trusted beliefs. One decision records whether to build, clarify or stop. After a build, measured baseline and target support the outcome and a possible wiki lesson.

Each probe states what would count as success and failure before anyone runs it. A probe involving people or external systems waits for the user's go-ahead, and the independent strategy review is recorded beside the decision.

Source Skill purpose

How it works

Steps of the skill, in source order

Source Flow

Choose the product Resolve its folder and resume existing product assessment documents.
Source Flow
List assumptions Ask what the plan needs to be true, add your own candidates and mark risk, importance and evidence level.
Source Flow
Design probes Give risky assumptions cheap falsifying probes with locked outcome thresholds.
Source Flow
Run a premortem Ask why the plan failed a year later and add risks the user did not name.
Source Flow
Check the quality bar Check each document against the quality bar before showing it.
Source Flow
Seek independent challenge Have a strategy reviewer attack the most trusted assumptions.
Source Flow
Record one decision Use evidence and rejected alternatives to choose build, clarify or stop.
Source Flow
Propose frame updates Tell the user which open question of the frame a finding settles; product-discovery writes the change.
Source Flow
Measure the outcome After build, compare the chosen metric's baseline, target and observed result.
Source Flow
Offer a lesson Turn the checked outcome into one candidate lesson for the project wiki.
Source Flow

Key rules

Take facts from users or sources and propose the rest, never invent.
Source Hard rules
Use high, medium and low rather than numerical scores for importance and evidence.
Source Hard rules
Lock probe success and failure text before running the probe.
Source Hard rules
Seek user approval before probes that touch people or external systems.
Source Hard rules
Keep the strategy challenge independent from the assessment author.
Source Hard rules

Output and gate

Output

Return written files, checker results, riskiest assumptions and the decision.
Source Output

Gate

The skill definition states no gate rule.

Source Skill definition

Source