product-design-creation

name	product-design-creation
description	Facilitates the product design conversation process — guides the user through creating a complete design package. Creates docs/ directory, conducts structured interviews, and synthesizes answers into design-ready documentation across six phases ending in a prototype.
triggers	{"keywords":["design package","product design","design documentation","facilitation","new product","vision document","jtbd","journey map","design challenge","prototype"]}
allowed-tools	Read, Write, Edit, Glob, Grep, Bash, Agent

Product Design Creation

Overview

This skill guides the facilitated conversation process that generates a complete design package. It follows the Human-Centered Development philosophy: understand the human need first, then design for it.

The process is conversational. You ask structured questions, the user answers in their own words, and you synthesize the answers into documents. Each document has a facilitation guide embedded as HTML comments.

Reference Documents

Read these before starting:

Document	Path	What It Provides
Facilitation Process	./REF-facilitation-process.md	How to conduct conversations, adapt questions, synthesize answers, track progress
Document Sequence	./REF-document-sequence.md	The full structure across 6 phases with prerequisites and checkpoint checks
Soul File Reference	./REF-soul-file.md	Per-section interview questions, synthesis rules, and Define-Done bar for creating SOUL.md (new projects)
Soul Retrofit	./SKILL-soul-retrofit.md	Creating SOUL.md for an existing project that already has documentation or code

Define Done

• Template package copied into docs/ directory
• README.md customized with product name
• All Phase 1 documents completed (vision, scope, metrics)
• At least 1 interview artifact completed
• All Phase 2 documents completed (JTBD, journeys, moments, blueprint)
• Design Foundation Checkpoint passes
• SOUL.md DRAFTED at project root (DRAFT v0.1) — immediately after Phase 2, before Phase 3 begins; see skills/REF-soul-file.md
• Phase 3 documents completed (user stories, use cases, acceptance criteria)
• Phase 4 documents completed (UX, UI, copy/voice)
• Design challenge brief completed
• SOUL.md RATIFIED at project root (RATIFIED v1.0) — after the design challenge brief is approved, before prototype; see skills/REF-soul-file.md
• TODO-DESIGN-PACKAGE.md status updated for all completed documents
• Design Complete Checkpoint passes
• Prototype output created in chosen format

Instructions

Step 1: Set Up the Project

1. Copy the template package into the project:

   cp -r templates/design-package/* docs/
   

2. Update docs/README.md:
   • Replace {{PRODUCT_NAME}} with the actual product name
   • Replace {{PRODUCT_DESCRIPTION}} with a one-line description
3. Read ./REF-facilitation-process.md for how to conduct the conversations
4. Read ./REF-document-sequence.md for the document order and prerequisites

Step 2: Conduct the Facilitation

Follow the document sequence in docs/TODO-DESIGN-PACKAGE.md. This file is the primary operational resume point — it replaces the README.md status column as the tracking source of truth. For each facilitated document:

1. Read the HTML comment at the top of the document — it contains the facilitation guide with structured question rounds
2. Ask the questions in order, one round at a time
3. Listen and probe — follow-up questions are more valuable than the scripted ones
4. Synthesize the user's answers into the document sections using their own language
5. Update TODO-DESIGN-PACKAGE.md status to COMPLETE when the document is done

See ./REF-facilitation-process.md for detailed guidance on conversation technique, adaptation, and synthesis.

Step 3: Design Foundation Checkpoint

After Phases 1 and 2 are complete, verify the Design Foundation Checkpoint in docs/TODO-DESIGN-PACKAGE.md:

• Vision + scope + success metrics exist
• At least 1 completed interview artifact exists
• Journeys / JTBD / Moments That Matter exist

If anything is missing, surface what's missing and ask whether to create it now or proceed without it.

Step 4: Continue Through Phases 3–5

After the Design Foundation Checkpoint passes, continue through requirements (user stories, use cases, acceptance criteria), experience design (UX, UI, copy/voice), and the design challenge brief.

Step 5: Design Complete Checkpoint

After Phase 5 is complete, verify the Design Complete Checkpoint in docs/TODO-DESIGN-PACKAGE.md:

• All design documents complete
• Design challenge brief reviewed and approved by the user

Step 6: Create the Prototype

After the Design Complete Checkpoint passes, the user chooses one of four prototype outputs:

Option	Output	Best For
Figma design	06-prototype/00-figma-design.md	Visual/interaction designers, stakeholder reviews
Design specification	06-prototype/10-design-spec.md	Developer handoff, implementation documentation
Storybook design system	06-prototype/20-storybook.md	Component libraries, design systems, reusable UI
Next.js prototype	06-prototype/30-nextjs-prototype.md	Working prototype, real data, testable interactions

Quality Tests

• Every completed document uses the user's own language, not generic templates
• Forces map uses the Moments Framework (Push, Pull, Anxiety, Habit)
• JTBD uses the canonical format: "When [situation], I want to [motivation], so I can [outcome]"
• Journey maps include struggling moments with severity ratings
• User stories include priority (P0/P1/P2) and dependencies
• Acceptance criteria are testable (Given/When/Then format)
• TODO-DESIGN-PACKAGE.md status matches actual document completion state
• Design Foundation Checkpoint and Design Complete Checkpoint reflect current pass/fail state