Customer-obsessed design methodology. Use when designing features, validating problems, choosing research methods, or measuring design success.
This skill guides engineers and designers toward the right methodology for understanding users and validating solutions. It emphasizes solving real problems for real people.
This skill activates when:
Use this decision framework to choose your approach:
Is the problem well-understood?
├── YES: Do users already complain about it?
│ ├── YES → Validate with analytics + quick usability test
│ └── NO → Optimize existing flow, measure impact
└── NO: Is this a new problem space?
├── YES → Qualitative research (interviews, observations)
└── UNCERTAIN → Hybrid: qualitative discovery + quantitative validation
// Before: Validating the problem exists
// Step 1: Talk to 5 customers about the pain point
// Step 2: Check support tickets for related issues
// Step 3: Analyze product analytics for drop-off points
// Step 4: Define success metrics BEFORE building
const successMetrics = {
leading: "time-to-complete", // What we can move
lagging: "completion-rate", // The outcome
guardrail: "error-rate", // What we must not hurt
}
// Step 5: Validate with prototype before full build
// Run usability test with 5 users on Figma prototype
// Wrong: Building without problem validation
// "Users probably want dark mode, let's add it"
// Wrong: Choosing methodology arbitrarily
// "Let's run a survey" (when you need deep understanding)
// Wrong: Vanity metrics
analytics.track("button-clicks") // Activity, not outcome
// Wrong: No validation before shipping
// "It looks good, let's ship and see what happens"