First-Principles Need Discovery and Structuring

Problem

Many feature discussions start with solutions before confirming the real obstacle. A request may come from a leader, an industry habit, or a competitor, so the analysis can drift into analogy thinking. find-need treats the task as need discovery and structuring, not as generating a feature list.

How It Works

The skill starts with Pre-Phase scope alignment, asking at most two questions:
- Audience: Who receives the report—PM, business owner, technical leader, or self-use?
- Depth: Is a five-minute judgment or a full report needed?

It then follows four steps:
1. Clarify: If context is missing, ask only the highest-value questions, such as whose need it is, what triggered it, and how users currently cope.
2. Deconstruct: Strip assumptions like “everyone does it,” run at least three 5-Why levels, restore functional, emotional, and social goals with JTBD, and scan for pseudo-need signals.
3. Report: Choose a PM, business, team-alignment, or quick-judgment template based on the audience.
4. Iterate: Revise the analysis from feedback; in deep mode, cross-check with user, product, and business perspectives.

Boundaries

It fits need review, pre-launch judgment, pseudo-need detection, and report drafting, but it does not replace user research or market analysis. If inputs lack real behavioral evidence, conclusions remain limited by information quality.