define-hypothesis
Defines a testable hypothesis with clear success metrics and a validation approach. Use when forming assumptions to test or aligning a team on what success looks like, before any experiment is designed. To design the A/B test or experiment that will validate the hypothesis, use measure-experiment-design.
npx skills add product-on-purpose/pm-skills --skill define-hypothesis --agent claude-code
Same command for any agent — swap --agent for codex, cursor, copilot.
Weekly change comes from our own snapshots, not the repository page — it measures attention, not adoption.
<!-- PM-Skills | https://github.com/product-on-purpose/pm-skills | Apache 2.0 --> # Hypothesis A hypothesis is a testable prediction about how a change will affect user behavior or business outcomes. It transforms assumptions into explicit statements that can be validated or invalidated through experimentation. Well-formed hypotheses prevent teams from building features based on untested beliefs and create shared understanding of what success looks like. ## When to Use - After problem framing, before committing to a solution - When designing experiments or A/B tests - When team members have differing assumptions about user behavior - Before investing significant engineering resources in a feature - When pivoting direction and need to validate the new approach ## When NOT to Use - You are ready to design the actual A/B test (variants, sample size, duration) -> use `measure-experiment-design`; this skill frames what to test, not how - The problem itself is still unframed -> use `define-problem-statement` first - You want to organize many assumptions and ideas into a discovery structure -> use `define-opportunity-tree` - The team needs the full business-model picture, not one testable
- When to Use
- When NOT to Use
- Instructions
- Output Format
- Quality Checklist
- Examples
What does the define-hypothesis skill do?
Defines a testable hypothesis with clear success metrics and a validation approach. Use when forming assumptions to test or aligning a team on what success looks like, before any experiment is designed. To design the A/B test or experiment that will validate the hypothesis, use measure-experiment-design.
How do I install it?
Run `npx skills add product-on-purpose/pm-skills --skill define-hypothesis --agent claude-code` — it drops the skill into your project so the agent can pick it up. Swap the --agent value for codex, cursor or copilot if you use one of those.
Where does this skill come from?
From product-on-purpose/pm-skills, a repository with 518 stars. We read it straight from the repository tree rather than a submitted listing, so what you see here is what is actually published.
Is a popular skill a good skill?
Not necessarily. Stars measure attention, not adoption — a repository can trend for a week and be abandoned. That is why we show the weekly change from our own snapshots next to the total, instead of a single flattering number.