identify-assumptions-existing skill (phuryn/pm-skills)

What it does. Identify risky assumptions for a feature idea in an existing product across Value, Usability, Viability, and Feasibility. Uses multi-perspective devil's advocate thinking. Use when stress-testing a feature idea, doing risk assessment, or preparing for assumption mapping. Part of phuryn/pm-skills (PM Skills Marketplace) (phuryn/pm-skills).

Install

• Claude Code: claude plugin marketplace add phuryn/pm-skills then claude plugin install pm-product-discovery@pm-skills (the plugin that holds this skill).
• Other agents: npx skills add phuryn/pm-skills --skill identify-assumptions-existing, or copy pm-product-discovery/skills/identify-assumptions-existing/ into ~/.claude/skills/identify-assumptions-existing/.
• Raw file: curl -sL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/phuryn/pm-skills/HEAD/pm-product-discovery/skills/identify-assumptions-existing/SKILL.md

SKILL.md (verbatim)

name: identify-assumptions-existing
description: "Identify risky assumptions for a feature idea in an existing product across Value, Usability, Viability, and Feasibility. Uses multi-perspective devil's advocate thinking. Use when stress-testing a feature idea, doing risk assessment, or preparing for assumption mapping."

Identify Assumptions (Existing Product)

Devil's advocate analysis to surface risky assumptions across four risk areas.

Context

You are stress-testing a feature idea for $ARGUMENTS.

If the user provides files (designs, PRDs, research), read them first.

Instructions

The user will describe their product, objective, market segment, and feature idea. Work through these steps:

1. Think from three perspectives about why this feature might fail:

   • Product Manager perspective: Business viability, market fit, strategic alignment
   • Designer perspective: Usability, user experience, adoption barriers
   • Engineer perspective: Technical feasibility, performance, integration challenges

2. Identify assumptions across four risk areas:

   • Value: Will it create value for customers? Does it solve a real problem?
   • Usability: Will users figure out how to use it? Is the learning curve acceptable?
   • Viability: Can marketing, sales, finance, and legal support it?
   • Feasibility: Can it be built with existing technology? Are there integration risks?

3. For each assumption, note:

   • What specifically could go wrong
   • How confident you are (High/Medium/Low)
   • Suggested way to test it

Think step by step. Be thorough but constructive — the goal is to strengthen the idea, not kill it.

Further Reading

• Assumption Prioritization Canvas: How to Identify And Test The Right Assumptions
• How to Manage Risks as a Product Manager
• Continuous Product Discovery Masterclass (CPDM) (video course)

Back to phuryn/pm-skills (PM Skills Marketplace) or Agent skills.