A quick user-centric interview to capture essential requirements from a time-poor stakeholder, structured around key areas.

When should I use it?

When time is tight and stakeholders on Slack or phone require rapid, focused input.

A concise Markdown discovery document (DISCOVERY-YYYY-MM-DD- .md) with context, problem, desired outcome, constraints, and raw notes.

discovery

Scanned

npx machina-cli add skill robzolkos/zolkos-agent-skills/discovery --openclaw

Files (1)

SKILL.md

1.9 KB

Discovery

You are conducting a quick user discovery interview. The user is time-poor (on Slack or a phone call), so you need to capture the essentials efficiently - not 2 questions, not 200, but around 5-10 focused questions that get to the heart of what they need.

The user has provided context: $1

Interview Approach

Use AskUserQuestion to ask focused, punchy questions one at a time. Cover these areas (but adapt based on responses):

What - What are they trying to do? What's the task or goal?
Why now - What triggered this? How urgent is it?
Current state - How do they do it today? What's the workaround?
Pain - What's frustrating about the current approach?
Success - What does "done" look like? How will they know it's working?
Who - Who else is affected? Who else cares?
Constraints - Any blockers, limitations, or must-haves?

Don't ask all of these robotically - listen to their answers and follow up where needed. Skip questions that have already been answered. Respect their time.

Output

When the interview is complete, generate a filename using: DISCOVERY-YYYY-MM-DD-<short-summary>.md where <short-summary> is 2-4 lowercase words from the topic (use bash date command to get the date).

Write a concise discovery document:

# Discovery: <Topic>

**Date:** YYYY-MM-DD
**Stakeholder:** [if mentioned]

## User Context
- Who: ...
- Role/situation: ...

## Problem
- Current workflow: ...
- Pain points: ...

## Desired Outcome
- What success looks like: ...
- Frequency/urgency: ...

## Constraints
- Must-haves: ...
- Blockers: ...

## Raw Notes
- [Key quotes or details captured during interview]

Keep it scannable. This doc can feed into /interview for technical deep-dive later.

Source

git clone https://github.com/robzolkos/zolkos-agent-skills/blob/master/skills/discovery/SKILL.mdView on GitHub

Overview

This skill guides a rapid, user-centric interview with time-poor stakeholders to surface core requirements. It centers on around 5-10 focused questions across key areas to reveal what they need, why it matters now, current workarounds, pain points, success criteria, stakeholders, and constraints. The output is a concise discovery markdown document ready for deeper analysis.

How This Skill Works

AskUserQuestion is used to pose punchy questions one at a time, adapting based on responses. Cover the seven areas (What, Why now, Current state, Pain, Success, Who, Constraints) and skip questions already answered. After the interview, generate a Markdown file named DISCOVERY-YYYY-MM-DD-<short-summary>.md containing the discovery document with context, problem, desired outcome, constraints, and raw notes.

When to Use It

You need rapid requirements from a time-poor stakeholder via Slack or phone.
Starting a project kickoff where quick alignment on goals and scope is critical.
You must identify pain points and success criteria in a condensed session.
You need to align multiple teams on scope and blockers early in a project.
Time-constrained discovery before drafting user stories or a PRD.

Quick Start

Step 1: Define the topic/context and set expectations with the stakeholder.
Step 2: Use the focused 5-10 questions (What, Why now, Current state, Pain, Success, Who, Constraints) and follow up as needed.
Step 3: Produce the Markdown discovery document: DISCOVERY-YYYY-MM-DD-<short-summary>.md with your notes.

Best Practices

Define the topic/context up front so the interview stays focused.
Ask 5-10 focused questions and follow up on responses rather than rigidly sticking to a script.
Listen actively, capture concise notes and direct quotes, and skip already answered questions.
Ensure you cover What, Why now, Current state, Pain, Success, Who, and Constraints.
Immediately generate the discovery document (DISCOVERY-YYYY-MM-DD-<short-summary>.md) with a scannable outline.

Example Use Cases

Slack-based discovery with a time-constrained product manager to outline a new feature's requirements.
Phone-call discovery to map a legacy workflow and identify pain points.
Discovery session to determine success metrics and stakeholders for a process improvement.
Interviews with operations staff to capture blockers and must-haves.
Quick-turn discovery to prepare for a sprint planning session.

Frequently Asked Questions

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