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Techniques for eliciting and prioritising user needs, pains, and desires — the opportunities that feed product strategy
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Based on SOC occupation classification
Techniques for defining the product's objects, relationships, states, and vocabulary independently of any interface — the most load-bearing layer
Framework orientation for Layers of Product Design — load this first; provides the context all other skills depend on
Techniques for mapping a domain's concepts, terminology conflicts, and bounded contexts — the raw material the conceptual model is built from
Techniques for mapping interaction structure and flow — places, affordances, edge cases, and failure paths — without committing to visual form
Techniques for planning user research and synthesising it into grounded, confidence-rated findings about what users actually do
Diagnostic audit across all seven layers — identifies the bottleneck layer and recommends where to focus
| name | layers-user-needs |
| description | Techniques for eliciting and prioritising user needs, pains, and desires — the opportunities that feed product strategy |
Assumes /layers-intro has been loaded. This skill is a library of techniques, not a script — see "How to use these skills" there.
User needs are what we think users are trying to achieve, and why — an interpretation built on observed behaviour and domain knowledge, not a direct capture of reality. This layer sits between the messy raw material of observation and the deliberate decisions of the solution space.
The outputs here are opportunities: needs (what users want to achieve), pains (what causes friction), and desires (improvements they'd value). All three are valid — elicit all three.
If the needs are already clear and grounded, don't re-elicit them for the sake of it — take them to /layers-product-strategy.
Job stories are the default; the rest suit particular situations.
| Technique | Use it when |
|---|---|
| Job stories (JTBD) | Default. When [situation], I want to [motivation], so I can [outcome]. Keeps solutions out; the "When" clause forces specificity. |
| User stories | The team prefers role-based framing or an existing Agile workflow. |
| Top tasks analysis (Gerry McGovern) | Large existing user base — identify which tasks matter most by frequency. Statistical, survey-based. |
| Persona + scenario | Communicating to stakeholders who think in archetypes. Good for alignment; less precise for design. |
| ODI desired outcomes (Ulwick) | Precise, measurable statements — "Minimize [metric] when [context]." Maps directly to opportunity scoring. |
| Surface hidden needs | Prompts to find what's ignored: what users do before/after the moment you focus on; what they wish they didn't have to do; what a workaround currently serves. |
| Rough prioritisation | Order by importance × how poorly currently served. A need that matters and is badly served is a high-value opportunity. Keep it rough — precise scoring is strategy work. |
First settle who the users are and in what situation — not "users" but which type, when. If there's more than one distinct type with different needs, work them separately. Note the source (research, domain knowledge, or assumption); if it's assumption, mark it and plan to validate.
Then work the needs the designer raises through the disciplines above, and probe for hidden ones. Offer the technique that fits — job stories by default, ODI when measurability matters, top tasks when there's a large user base. Don't run a fixed sequence.
Capture only the residue: the prioritised needs with confidence ratings, the unprioritised-but-surfaced ones (so they aren't lost), gaps (probably-real needs not yet grounded), and any contradictions between user types. Keep it to what carries a decision.
These needs are the opportunities for /layers-product-strategy. If they're mostly assumed, consider /layers-observed-behaviour to gather evidence before building strategy on them.
