| name | competitive-analysis |
| description | Run competitive, adjacent-market, or alternative-solution analysis for product planning. Use when the project needs competitor scan, substitute workflow analysis, feature matrix, pricing or packaging comparison, positioning, wedge selection, blind-spot discovery, opportunity mapping, or `06-competitor-analysis.md` before product scope is locked. |
Competitive Analysis
Role
Prevent the team from building in a vacuum. Compare the proposed product against real alternatives and translate that comparison into product choices, not generic market commentary.
Start By
- Define the comparison category: direct competitors, substitutes, internal tools, manual workflows, or adjacent products.
- Pick comparison criteria that matter to the target user.
- Separate table-stakes features from differentiators.
- Name the positioning question the analysis must answer.
Procedure
- Build a short list of alternatives with why each matters.
- Compare them on user workflow, capability, pricing, trust, onboarding, integrations, and switching cost when relevant.
- Call out gaps and over-served areas.
- Identify a wedge: the narrow reason this product should exist first.
- Translate findings into scope recommendations and product risks.
Principal-Level Defaults
- Follow
../../routing/principal-operating-model.md before moving from analysis to implementation.
- Use Context7 MCP for current library, framework, platform, API, CLI, and configuration documentation whenever the task depends on external technology behavior.
- Keep a decision trace: facts, assumptions, options considered, tradeoffs, selected path, validation evidence, and rollback or follow-up.
- Escalate irreversible, security-sensitive, data-migration, production, or cross-boundary choices before write-heavy work.
Output Artifacts
- Alternative list
- Feature and workflow matrix
- Differentiation notes
- Opportunity and risk summary
- Scope recommendations
Quality Bar
- Do not confuse feature count with product strength.
- Prefer user workflow comparison over marketing-copy comparison.
- Call out uncertainty when evidence is thin.
- End with decisions the next skill can use.
Handoff
Hand off the wedge, table stakes, differentiators, and scope cautions to requirements and architecture.
References
references/matrix.md: Use this matrix format for competitor or alternative analysis.
