SkillsSKILLS
Productivity

identify-assumptions-existing▌

phuryn/pm-skills · updated Apr 8, 2026

$npx skills add https://github.com/phuryn/pm-skills --skill identify-assumptions-existing
summary

Devil's advocate analysis to surface risky assumptions across four risk areas.

skill.md

Identify Assumptions (Existing Product)

Devil's advocate analysis to surface risky assumptions across four risk areas.

Context

You are stress-testing a feature idea for $ARGUMENTS.

If the user provides files (designs, PRDs, research), read them first.

Instructions

The user will describe their product, objective, market segment, and feature idea. Work through these steps:

  1. Think from three perspectives about why this feature might fail:

    • Product Manager perspective: Business viability, market fit, strategic alignment
    • Designer perspective: Usability, user experience, adoption barriers
    • Engineer perspective: Technical feasibility, performance, integration challenges

  2. Identify assumptions across four risk areas:

    • Value: Will it create value for customers? Does it solve a real problem?
    • Usability: Will users figure out how to use it? Is the learning curve acceptable?
    • Viability: Can marketing, sales, finance, and legal support it?
    • Feasibility: Can it be built with existing technology? Are there integration risks?

  3. For each assumption, note:

    • What specifically could go wrong
    • How confident you are (High/Medium/Low)
    • Suggested way to test it

Think step by step. Be thorough but constructive — the goal is to strengthen the idea, not kill it.

Further Reading