pdd-stakeholder-interview-guide

name

pdd-stakeholder-interview-guide

description

Use this skill to create a Stakeholder Interview Guide for a client project. Triggers whenever a user wants to: write stakeholder interview questions, create an internal interview guide for client team members, prepare interview scripts for executives or product owners, or build a guide for discovery-phase stakeholder sessions. Also trigger when the user says "stakeholder interview", "stakeholder guide", "interview questions for the client team", "discovery interviews", or "questions for [role like CEO, VP, marketing director]" — even if they don't explicitly call it a skill. The output is a formatted .docx matching the Infinum/ETR stakeholder interview style — participant list at the top, shared intro script, then a tailored per-person question set for each interviewee organized into subsections by topic. Cowork-ready — the .docx is produced by the bundled python-docx generator, which runs on Cowork's built-in office toolchain.

PDD Stakeholder Interview Guide Skill

Before you start: Read ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/instructions.md and follow its PDD persona and Infinum brand rules throughout — including the document branding (Helvetica Neue, #000/#D8262D/#E4EBF5, Infinum logo top-right) on every file this skill produces.

Produces a structured, print-ready Stakeholder Interview Guide following Infinum/ETR conventions. The guide has one tailored question set per interviewee, organized into topic subsections, with a shared intro script at the top.

Unlike user interview guides, there is no screener or recruitment plan — stakeholders are pre-selected internal client team members.

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Phase 1 — Gather Context

Check the conversation first — project brief, SOW, discovery workshop notes, and any prior context about the client may already answer many of these.

Required Information

If any of the following are missing, ask all in one message:

Item	Why it matters
Client / project name	Document header and intro script
List of interviewees	Name + title for each person — this drives everything
Project type	Website, app, platform, etc. — shapes question framing
Key project goals	Informs "Context" subsection questions
Session length	Typically 45–60 min for stakeholder interviews

Ask Template (if context is missing)

Before I write the guide, I need a few things:

1. Who are we interviewing? Please list each person's name and title.
2. What's the project? A brief description of what we're building and why.
3. Any specific goals or questions you want to make sure we cover?
4. Session length? (defaults to 45 minutes if not specified)

Once you have the interviewee list and project context, proceed without asking further questions — derive role-appropriate question sets from the context and the question library.

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Phase 2 — Plan the Question Sets

Before writing, map each interviewee to a role archetype to select the right question emphasis:

Role Archetype	Examples	Emphasis
Executive / Leadership	CEO, CCO, President, Founder	Vision, goals, differentiation, growth strategy
Clinical / Product / Service	VP Clinical, Director of Care, Product Owner	User needs, service gaps, content, outcomes data
Marketing / Growth	CMO, Marketing Director, SEO Lead	Channels, messaging, content, SEO, brand
Operations / Technology	CTO, CIO, Head of Engineering	Tech constraints, integrations, platform, workflows
Business Development / Sales	VP BD, Sales Director	Funnel, B2B partnerships, referrals, credibility signals
Program / Project Manager	Program Manager, Project Lead	Day-to-day ownership, CMS, workflows, launch logistics

A single person may span two archetypes — e.g. a VP of Marketing & Operations gets both tracks.

Shared questions (appear in most or all sections):

• Background / role
• Why now / project context
• What success looks like
• Who the primary user is
• What information is most important to show users
• Main action you want users to take
• Competitors and differentiation
• Concerns and risks
• Wrap-up

Role-specific questions supplement the shared set. Draw from references/question-library.md.

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Phase 3 — Generate the Guide

Read references/format-reference.md before writing.

Document Structure (in order)

1. Header — "Stakeholder Interviews", client name, date
2. Participant List — all interviewees listed by name + title (no screening criteria)
3. Intro Script — shared verbatim script, ~200 words, warm and professional
4. Per-Participant Sections — one H2 (##) section per person (or role group if sharing a session)
   • Each section has: participant name + title as the ## heading, numbered questions inside named ### subsections
   • Question numbering restarts at 1 for each interviewee and continues across that person's subsections — the generator handles this automatically as long as each interviewee is a ## heading and their subsections are ###
5. Each section ends with the standard wrap-up line

Writing the Intro Script

The intro script is shared — used at the start of every session with every participant. It should include:

• Interviewer name(s) and role on the project (use [NAME] and [ROLE] placeholders)
• What the project is and who's leading it
• Goal of the session: to hear from them, learn their perspective
• Quick notes: recording consent, session length flexibility, follow-up welcome
• "Any questions before we get started?"

Keep it warm, direct, and not overly formal. ~3–4 short paragraphs + 3 bullet notes.

Writing Each Participant's Questions

For each person:

1. Start with 2–4 Background / Role questions — adapted to their specific role
2. Move to 4–6 Context questions — project vision, success metrics, why now
3. Add 5–8 Users questions — who they're trying to reach, what users need, funnel/drop-off
4. Include role-specific subsections as relevant:
   • Content (for marketing, PM, operations roles)
   • Tech & Features (for CTO/CIO, operations)
   • B2B / Business Development (for sales, CCO roles)
5. Always include 3–4 Competitors questions
6. Always include 2–3 Risk & Concerns questions
7. End with Ideas (1–2 open-ended vision questions)
8. Close with the standard wrap-up line

Don't bold questions — keep all questions in normal weight (only headings are bold). Use italics for conditional or interviewer notes: (Skip if already answered in workshop) Use lettered sub-items for follow-up probes.

Question Count by Session Length

Scale question count to the session length only — not to the participant's seniority or title:

• 30 min → 15–20 questions
• 45 min → 20–28 questions
• 60 min → 28–38 questions
• Group session (multiple participants, 60–90 min) → 35–50 questions total

Personalization

Where you know something specific about a participant — prior role, stated concern, something they mentioned in a prior session or workshop — include a personalized question referencing it. Examples (illustrative):

• "I was told that before this role you were the CEO of a mental health company — how did that experience shape your thinking?"
• "I heard you've worked at a couple of well-known companies in this space — what learnings are you bringing from those experiences?"
• "I know we touched on this a bit in the discovery workshop, but can you walk me through again…"

This signals preparation and typically yields the most candid answers.

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Phase 4 — Output

Generate the .docx

The bundled scripts/generate_guide.py (python-docx) renders a Markdown file into the branded Infinum .docx. Write the guide content to a Markdown file using these conventions:

• # Title | Client | Month Year → title block, red rule, and grey subtitle
• Participant list at the top, then the shared intro script
• ## Interviewee Name — Role → one H2 section per interviewee (also restarts question numbering)
• ### Subsection → H3 topic label within an interviewee's set
• 1. numbered questions (restart at each ##); a. lettered sub-items (probes)
• - bullets; *italic* → italic grey note; **bold** renders at normal weight

Ensure python-docx is available, then run the script from this skill's directory:

pip install python-docx --break-system-packages -q
python3 "${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/skills/pdd-stakeholder-interview-guide/scripts/generate_guide.py" \
  --content stakeholder_guide_content.md \
  --output /mnt/user-data/outputs/stakeholder_interview_guide.docx

The generator has the Infinum logo embedded directly inside it (base64), so it renders in the top-right page header even when the script runs detached from the plugin (e.g. copied elsewhere) — no dependency on the assets/ folder at runtime. Pass --logo /path/to/logo-color.png to use a different logo. It applies the Infinum brand throughout — Helvetica Neue, red #D8262D title rule, bold headings, normal-weight questions, lettered probes.

Then validate:

python3 /mnt/skills/public/docx/scripts/office/validate.py \
  /mnt/user-data/outputs/stakeholder_interview_guide.docx

Then present the file using present_files.

Fallback

If generation fails, write to /mnt/user-data/outputs/stakeholder_interview_guide.md and present.

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Phase 5 — Review Gate

After presenting the guide, ask:

"Does this look right? Let me know if you'd like to adjust the question focus for any participant, add or remove people, change the session length, or add any project-specific context I should weave in."

Include this starting-point note (per the plugin's output policy):

A note on this output: This is a shared starting point, not a finished deliverable. Per Keep It Human, review it and refine it together with the team — the best results come from collaboration and human judgment, not from a first pass. Check every line against what you know before using or sharing it.

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Files in This Skill

Path	Purpose
SKILL.md	This file — workflow instructions
references/question-library.md	Master question bank by role type and section
references/format-reference.md	Document structure, style, and formatting conventions
scripts/generate_guide.py	python-docx generator: Markdown → styled Infinum .docx

Note: This skill bundles its own copy of generate_guide.py (identical to the one in pdd-user-interview-guide), so it runs standalone — no dependency on other skills.