discovery-interview-prep
Plan customer discovery interviews with the right goal, segment, constraints, and method. Use when preparing interviews for problem validation, churn research, or new product ideas.
npx skills add deanpeters/Product-Manager-Skills --skill discovery-interview-prep --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.
What it does
Plans customer discovery interviews by clarifying the research goal, selecting a target segment, defining constraints, and recommending an interview methodology. It outputs a tailored interview plan including an interview framework, questions, biases to avoid, and success criteria.
How it works
The skill operates as an interactive prep flow that asks up to four adaptive questions:
- Question 1: Research Goal — selects from problem validation, JTBD, retention/churn, or feature prioritization (or custom goal).
- Question 2: Target Customer Segment — selects a specific segment corresponding to the goal or provides a custom description.
- Question 3: Constraints — selects constraints such as limited access, existing customer base, cold outreach, or internal stakeholders; can also provide custom constraints.
- Question 4: Interview Methodology — proposes 3-4 methodologies appropriate to the goal/segment/constraints and allows combination or custom input. Based on responses, it generates a tailored Interview Plan that includes:
- Research Goal, Target Segment, Constraints, Methodology
- Interview Framework with Opening, Core Questions aligned to the chosen methodology, and a Closing segment
- A set of Core Questions with rationales, follow-ups, and avoidance notes, plus a concrete example set for the selected methodology
- Biases to avoid, success criteria, and interview logistics (recruiting, scheduling, synthesis)
The plan emphasizes an adaptive, bias-aware, qualitative approach and discourages surveys at scale or solution pitches.
When to use it
Use to prepare for customer discovery interviews in contexts such as validating problems, understanding churn, evaluating feature ideas, or planning for research with limited customer access. It is intended when you need a structured, goal-driven interview plan rather than a generic script.
What it can touch
The skill references the following inputs and outputs:
- Inputs: Research goal, target segment, constraints, and any hypotheses supplied during invocation
- Output: A tailored interview plan including an interview framework, core questions, biases, success criteria, and logistics
Caveats
The skill is designed for qualitative discovery interviews and does not produce quantitative analysis or broader surveys. It emphasizes avoiding leading questions and unrelated sales pitches. It requires user-provided goals and constraints to tailor the plan; outcomes depend on the accuracy of provided context.
## Purpose Guide product managers through preparing for customer discovery interviews by asking adaptive questions about research goals, customer segments, constraints, and methodologies. Use this to design effective interview plans, craft targeted questions, avoid common biases, and maximize learning from limited customer access—ensuring discovery interviews yield actionable insights rather than confirmation bias or surface-level feedback. This is not a script generator—it's a strategic prep process that outputs a tailored interview plan with methodology, question framework, and success criteria. ## Input **Works best with:** Your research goal — what you need to learn from customers. **Also useful:** Customer segment, access constraints (how many interviews, by when), and any hypotheses you're carrying in. Anything supplied with the invocation itself — text after the skill name, a pasted context dump, or an appended `ARGUMENTS:` line — counts as answers already given. Use it and skip whatever it covers; don't re-ask. **Arriving empty-handed? That works too.** The skill opens by asking your primary goal for the interviews, then narrows with follow-ups. **Example invocation:** `Pre
- Purpose
- Input
- Key Concepts
- The Discovery Interview Prep Flow
- Why This Works
- Anti-Patterns (What This Is NOT)
- When to Use This
- When NOT to Use This
- Facilitation Source of Truth
- Application
- Step 0: Gather Context (Before Questions)
- Question 1: Research Goal
- Question 2: Target Customer Segment
- Question 3: Constraints
What does the discovery-interview-prep skill do?
Plan customer discovery interviews with the right goal, segment, constraints, and method. Use when preparing interviews for problem validation, churn research, or new product ideas.
How do I install it?
Run `npx skills add deanpeters/Product-Manager-Skills --skill discovery-interview-prep --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 deanpeters/Product-Manager-Skills, a repository with 6,255 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.