| name | product-planning |
| description | Guided product planning workflow. Define your product (overview + roadmap), model data entities, specify the app shell, and create feature sections — all through interactive conversation that produces viewer-compatible structured markdown. |
Product Planning
This skill provides the complete lifecycle for defining a product before design exploration begins. Through interactive conversation, agents help users define what they're building, model the data, plan the navigation, and spec out each feature section. All output is structured markdown that the design-studio-app viewer reads and displays.
Lifecycle
PRODUCT (/ds:product) → DATA SHAPE (/ds:data-shape) → SHELL (/ds:shell) → SECTIONS (/ds:section)
Product planning feeds into the existing design system workflow:
PRODUCT PLANNING → BRAND (optional) → EXPLORE → DECIDE → SHIP
1. PRODUCT
/design-studio:ds:product uses the product-planner agent to define:
- Product name, description, and value proposition
- Problems the product solves with solutions
- Key features list
- Ordered roadmap of sections to build
Outputs:
.design/product/product-overview.md
.design/product/product-roadmap.md
2. DATA SHAPE
/design-studio:ds:data-shape uses the data-shape-planner agent to define:
- Data entities with descriptions (PascalCase names)
- Relationships between entities with cardinality
Output:
.design/product/data-shape/data-shape.md
3. SHELL
/design-studio:ds:shell uses the shell-planner agent to define:
- App shell overview and design approach
- Navigation items (mapped from roadmap sections)
- Layout pattern with responsive behavior
Output:
.design/product/shell/spec.md
4. SECTIONS
/design-studio:ds:section uses the section-planner agent to define individual feature sections:
- Section spec with title, overview, user flows, and UI requirements
- Each section maps to a roadmap entry
Output per section:
.design/product/sections/{id}/spec.md
Phase Gates
The viewer tracks progress across 5 phases:
| Phase | Requirement | Command |
|---|
| Product | product-overview.md + product-roadmap.md exist | ds:product |
| Data Shape | data-shape/data-shape.md exists | ds:data-shape |
| Design System | tokens.json exists | ds:brand or ds:design-pick |
| Shell | shell/spec.md exists | ds:shell |
| Sections | At least one section directory under sections/ | ds:section |
Use /design-studio:ds:design-status to see current phase progress.
Workspace Structure
.design/
product/
product-overview.md # Product name, description, problems, features
product-roadmap.md # Ordered section list
data-shape/
data-shape.md # Entities + relationships
shell/
spec.md # App shell, navigation, layout
sections/
{section-id}/
spec.md # Section spec (title, overview, flows, requirements)
data.json # Optional sample data
screen-designs/ # Optional screen design HTML files
{name}.html
References
references/product-overview-schema.md — product-overview.md format, parser behavior, field rules
references/product-roadmap-schema.md — product-roadmap.md format, slugification rules, size guidelines
references/data-shape-schema.md — data-shape.md format, entity/relationship patterns
references/shell-spec-schema.md — shell spec.md format, navigation and layout guidelines
references/section-spec-schema.md — section spec.md format, directory structure, matching roadmap entries
Key Principles
- Parser compatibility: All output must round-trip through the viewer's parsers. Agents read the reference files for exact format specs.
- Slugification consistency: Section IDs are slugified from titles (lowercase, non-alphanumeric → hyphen, trim hyphens). Must match between roadmap and section directories.
- Interactive discovery: Agents conduct batched Q&A (2-3 questions per round) rather than dumping a questionnaire.
- Context building: Each phase reads output from prior phases — data shape references the product, shell references the roadmap, sections reference everything.
- Safe re-runs: Commands check for existing files and offer to refine rather than overwrite.