| name | discovery-research-stinger |
| description | Continuous product discovery coach — Teresa Torres interview cadence, Opportunity Solution Trees, Jobs-to-be-Done interviews, prototype testing, and the "build less, learn more" loop. Use when the user says "run a discovery session", "build an OST", "write an interview script", "map our assumptions", "design a prototype experiment", "weekly discovery summary", or when a team is unsure what to build next and needs to run discovery before planning. Do NOT use for shipped-feature usability testing (quality-worker-bee), UI design decisions (ux-ui-worker-bee), PRD authorship (library-worker-bee), or analytics result interpretation. |
| license | MIT |
discovery-research Stinger
Procedural arsenal for discovery-research-worker-bee, the Legion Army's continuous-discovery coach. This stinger encodes Teresa Torres' continuous-discovery framework, Opportunity Solution Trees (OST), Jobs-to-be-Done (JTBD) interview methodology, assumption mapping, and lightweight prototype experiment design.
The stinger's job is to give the Bee specific, opinionated playbooks — not generic UX theory. Every guide cites primary research. Every template is ready to fill in. Every example shows a real output shape.
When this stinger applies
Load this stinger when discovery-research-worker-bee is invoked. Typical triggers:
- "Help me figure out what to build next."
- "Create an opportunity solution tree for [product/team]."
- "Write a user interview script for [opportunity]."
- "Map the assumptions behind [solution]."
- "Design an experiment to test [assumption]."
- "We need to do customer discovery before writing the PRD."
- "Run continuous discovery for [desired outcome]."
Do NOT load for:
- Usability testing of shipped features →
quality-worker-bee.
- Authoring a PRD or feature spec →
library-worker-bee.
- UI/UX design decisions →
ux-ui-worker-bee.
- Analytics or experiment result interpretation → inline or future analytics Bee.
First action when this stinger is loaded
Read these in order before doing anything else:
guides/00-principles.md — the continuous-discovery philosophy, the three tenets, the "build less, learn more" manifesto, and the critical directives.guides/01-desired-outcome.md — how to scope a desired outcome before any other work begins.guides/02-opportunity-solution-tree.md — OST node taxonomy, snapshot rules, common failure modes.
Then load domain-specific guides as the session requires:
guides/03-interview-cadence.md — when to run interviews and how to recruit.guides/04-jtbd-interview.md — the Five-Act interview structure.guides/05-assumption-mapping.md — DVFU 2×2 and Kill Zone protocol.guides/06-experiment-design.md — prototype archetypes and success criteria.
Procedure (how the Bee uses this stinger)
1. Anchor to a desired outcome
If no outcome is stated, run the outcome-scoping interview from guides/01-desired-outcome.md. Nothing else starts until a single measurable outcome is defined.
2. Build or update the OST
Read or create library/discovery/opportunity-solution-tree.md using the structure from guides/02-opportunity-solution-tree.md and templates/opportunity-solution-tree.md.
3. Generate an interview script
For a target opportunity node, produce a JTBD-style script using guides/04-jtbd-interview.md and templates/interview-script.md. Write to library/discovery/interview-scripts/<YYYY-MM-DD>-<opportunity-slug>.md.
4. Map assumptions
For a chosen solution, run the DVFU 2×2 protocol from guides/05-assumption-mapping.md using templates/assumption-map.md. Write to library/discovery/assumption-maps/<solution-slug>.md.
5. Design an experiment
For the highest-risk assumption, design the smallest invalidating experiment using guides/06-experiment-design.md and templates/experiment-plan.md. Write to library/discovery/experiments/<YYYY-MM-DD>-<experiment-slug>.md.
6. Summarize for stakeholders (optional)
On demand, produce a one-page weekly discovery summary using templates/weekly-summary.md.
Critical directives
- Never recommend building without at least one validated assumption test. Why: the "build less, learn more" loop exists to prevent building on wrong assumptions; skipping it is the failure mode continuous discovery is designed to catch. (Source:
research/external/2026-05-20-torres-2026-roadmap-ai-discovery.md)
- Always anchor work to a single desired outcome. Why: OSTs without a defined outcome become wish lists. (Source:
research/external/2026-05-20-opportunity-solution-tree-guide-2026.md)
- Distinguish opportunities (problems/desires) from solutions (product ideas). Why: conflating the two is the most common discovery anti-pattern. (Source:
research/external/2026-05-20-opportunity-solution-tree-guide-2026.md)
- Use Torres' weekly cadence as the default structure. Why: continuous discovery requires rhythm; ad-hoc interviews generate anecdotes, not patterns. (Source:
research/external/2026-05-20-continuous-discovery-habits-operationalized-2026.md)
- Ask "what's the story?" before coding any interview insight. Why: JTBD is story-based; jumping to themes before hearing the full narrative misses the motivation structure. (Source:
research/external/2026-05-20-jtbd-switch-interview-moesta-method.md)
- Do not produce a PRD or implementation plan. Why: that is
library-worker-bee's job; hand off a validated opportunity + winning solution, not a spec.
Folder layout
discovery-research-stinger/
+- SKILL.md (this file)
+- README.md (one-page human overview)
+- guides/
| +- 00-principles.md (philosophy, three tenets, critical directives)
| +- 01-desired-outcome.md (outcome scoping, three-part test)
| +- 02-opportunity-solution-tree.md (OST taxonomy, snapshot protocol, failure modes)
| +- 03-interview-cadence.md (weekly cadence, recruiting, structure)
| +- 04-jtbd-interview.md (Five-Act structure, forces diagram)
| +- 05-assumption-mapping.md (DVFU 2x2, Kill Zone protocol)
| +- 06-experiment-design.md (four archetypes, success criteria)
+- examples/
| +- happy-path-saas-onboarding.md (worked OST + interview + experiment for SaaS)
| +- edge-case-b2b-stakeholders.md (discovery in a complex B2B buying environment)
+- templates/
| +- opportunity-solution-tree.md (OST skeleton)
| +- interview-script.md (Five-Act script scaffold)
| +- assumption-map.md (DVFU 2x2 table)
| +- experiment-plan.md (experiment brief skeleton)
| +- weekly-summary.md (stakeholder summary one-pager)
+- reports/
| +- README.md (describes what past-run summaries look like)
+- research/ (populated by scripture-historian; DO NOT MODIFY)
+- research-plan.md
+- research-summary.md
+- index.md
+- internal/
+- external/
Refresh cadence
- The procedural guides (
00- through 06-) align with Teresa Torres' continuous discovery framework (stable since 2021 Continuous Discovery Habits). Refresh when Torres publishes a major framework update or when a new OST tooling standard emerges.
- The research folder covers the Nov 2025 - May 2026 window. Re-run
scripture-historian at normal tier if a significant new source (e.g., a new Torres book/course, a major JTBD update from Moesta) emerges.
- Templates are stable; no cadence refresh expected.
Command Brief: ai-tools/command-briefs/discovery-research-worker-bee-command-brief.md
Part of the Legion Army forged by Mario Aldayuz a.k.a @thenotoriousllama.
