| name | value-props-pain-points |
| description | AI-agnostic research workflow for mapping product value propositions to user and customer pain points, evidence, archetypal motivations, and messaging opportunities. Use when an assistant or agent needs to create, improve, audit, or structure value props & pain points research; turn rough notes, interviews, market data, transcripts, or source material into a clear research artifact; identify evidence gaps, assumptions, and next research steps. |
Value Props & Pain Points
Use this skill to produce a clear value-props and pain-points analysis that maps product value to user and customer pain, evidence, archetypal motivations, and messaging opportunities. The workflow is assistant-agnostic and works with any model, agent, browser, research tool, note system, spreadsheet, or manual process available in the current environment.
For the source template this skill was derived from, read references/source-template.md when the user asks for the original template wording, exact section order, or a template-faithful output.
Tool-Agnostic Use
- Apply this workflow with any assistant, agent, browser, research database, note system, spreadsheet, or manual research process available in the current environment.
- Treat named tools, example documents, or source links in references as replaceable examples, not dependencies.
- When live research tools are available and the question depends on current facts, market data, pricing, competitors, or demographic statistics, verify against current reputable sources and cite them.
- If live research tools are unavailable, work from the user's supplied material, mark evidence gaps clearly, and avoid inventing facts or market numbers.
- Preserve the user's requested format unless it would hide assumptions, uncertainty, evidence quality, or strategic caveats.
Core Workflow
- Define the product and audience.
- Capture the product, use case, user persona, buyer/ICP, brand archetype if provided, and the decision the analysis should support.
- Gather evidence.
- Use supplied notes, interviews, analytics, tickets, reviews, sales calls, market research, and current external sources when available. Distinguish observed evidence from hypotheses.
- Catalog pain points.
- List functional, emotional, social, economic, and switching-cost pain points for users and buyers. Include impact, frequency, severity, and evidence.
- Map value propositions.
- Translate product capabilities into value propositions, then connect each value proposition to the pain it resolves and the proof that supports it.
- Prioritize and synthesize.
- Rank pains and value props by evidence strength, urgency, willingness to pay, strategic differentiation, and message clarity.
- Produce the final analysis.
- Deliver an executive summary, pain-point tables, value-prop tables, pain-to-value mapping, evidence gaps, and recommended messaging tests.
Output Sections
Use these sections for a full research artifact unless the user asks for a shorter answer:
- Executive Summary
- Audience and Scope
- User Persona Pain Points
- ICP or Buyer Pain Points
- Value Propositions
- Pain-to-Value Mapping
- Evidence Quality and Gaps
- Messaging and Positioning Implications
- Recommended Next Research
Quality Checks
Before finalizing:
- Every major pain point should include evidence or be labeled as a hypothesis.
- Do not confuse product features with customer value.
- Separate user pain, buyer pain, and organizational pain when they differ.
- Call out weak evidence, missing customer quotes, or unsupported archetype claims.
- Prefer concrete language that can become landing-page, sales, or interview-test copy.
Evidence Rules
- Label unsupported claims as assumptions or hypotheses.
- Cite sources or name the source material when possible.
- Separate facts, interpretation, strategic implications, and recommendations.
- Include confidence and open questions when evidence is incomplete.
- Do not fabricate market numbers, quotes, customer attributes, competitor claims, or research findings.
