product-manager-brainstorm-phase

name

product-manager-brainstorm-phase

description

BrainstormPhase for ProductManager feature candidate discovery. Use to turn ResearchPhase evidence into possible feature candidates, opportunity clusters, candidate matrices, RICE-style scoring, user-value scoring, effort/risk estimates, prioritization, and top recommendations. Triggers on BrainstormPhase, candidate generation, feature ideas from research, opportunity matrix, rank feature candidates, prioritize product ideas, and synthesize opportunities. Do NOT use before a research artifact or evidence base exists.

ProductManager BrainstormPhase

BrainstormPhase converts evidence into ranked feature candidates. It should feel imaginative, but never detached from the research base.

Inputs

Read these if present:

• research.md
• evidence-log.md
• Existing roadmap, issues, docs, or user notes
• Product constraints from AGENTS.md, architecture docs, or runtime evidence

If the evidence base is thin, list gaps and run a small ResearchPhase top-up before scoring.

Candidate Generation

Generate candidates through four lenses:

1. Friction removal: what repeated pain did mock use reveal?
2. Visibility: what valuable state already exists but is hard to see, compare, or trust?
3. Control: where does the user need a safer, faster, or more reversible action?
4. Category expectation: what do adjacent products make users expect?

For each candidate, write the smallest useful version first. Add larger variants only after the small version is clear.

Scoring

Use a 1-5 scale unless the user gives a different rubric:

Score	Meaning
User value	How much pain or desire this addresses
Evidence strength	How directly the research supports it
Differentiation	How much it improves the product's position
Effort	Implementation and design complexity, reversed in final ranking
Risk	Data, UX, operational, or trust risk, reversed in final ranking

Recommended score:

(user_value * 2) + evidence_strength + differentiation - effort - risk

Candidate Matrix

Write candidate-matrix.md:

# BrainstormPhase Candidate Matrix

| Rank | Candidate | User Problem | Evidence | Value | Evidence | Diff | Effort | Risk | Score | Call |
|---|---|---|---|---:|---:|---:|---:|---:|---:|---|

## Top Recommendation

## Parked Ideas

## Rejected Ideas

## Assumptions to Validate

Quality Gate

Before moving to FeatureDocPhase:

• Rank at least five candidates unless the product surface is tiny.
• Include at least one "do not build" call.
• Name the top candidate and why it wins.
• Identify the riskiest assumption for the top candidate.

Out of Scope

• Gathering initial evidence: use product-manager-research-phase.
• Writing detailed feature docs: use product-manager-feature-doc-phase.
• Sending or summarizing the run: use product-manager-report-phase.