Discovery Research Stinger

discovery-research Stinger

Procedural arsenal for discovery-research-wasp-drone, the Legion Army's continuous-discovery coach. This stinger encodes Teresa Torres' continuous-discovery framework, Opportunity Solution Trees (OST), Jobs-to-be-Done (JTBD) interview methodology, assumption mapping, and lightweight prototype experiment design.

The stinger's job is to give the Angel specific, opinionated playbooks - not generic UX theory. Every guide cites primary research. Every template is ready to fill in. Every example shows a real output shape.

When this stinger applies

Load this stinger when discovery-research-wasp-drone is invoked. Typical triggers:

• "Help me figure out what to build next."
• "Create an opportunity solution tree for [product/team]."
• "Write a user interview script for [opportunity]."
• "Map the assumptions behind [solution]."
• "Design an experiment to test [assumption]."
• "We need to do customer discovery before writing the PRD."
• "Run continuous discovery for [desired outcome]."

Do NOT load for:

• Usability testing of shipped features → quality-wasp-drone.
• Authoring a PRD or feature spec → library-wasp-drone.
• UI/UX design decisions → ux-ui-wasp-drone.
• Shipped-product analytics, statistical significance, or causal experiment interpretation; route to a qualified analytics owner. Narrow pre-build synthesis against declared assumptions uses guide 08.

First action when this stinger is loaded

Read these in order before doing anything else:

1. guides/00-principles.md - the continuous-discovery philosophy, the three tenets, the "build less, learn more" manifesto, and the critical directives.
2. guides/01-desired-outcome.md - how to scope a desired outcome before any other work begins.
3. guides/02-opportunity-solution-tree.md - OST node taxonomy, snapshot rules, common failure modes.

Then load domain-specific guides as the session requires:

• guides/03-interview-cadence.md - when to run interviews and how to recruit.
• guides/04-jtbd-interview.md - the Five-Act interview structure.
• guides/05-assumption-mapping.md - DVFU 2×2 and Kill Zone protocol.
• guides/06-experiment-design.md - prototype archetypes and success criteria.
• guides/07-test-demand-before-building.md - declaration, participant/channel provenance, proxies, counterevidence, feasibility, and criteria changes.
• guides/08-continue-pivot-or-stop.md - one scoped advisory decision from actual pre-build evidence.
• guides/09-scope-first-version.md - evidence-linked first-version discovery handoff, without PRD authorship.

Procedure (how the Angel uses this stinger)

1. Anchor to a desired outcome

If no outcome is stated, run the outcome-scoping interview from guides/01-desired-outcome.md. Nothing else starts until a single measurable outcome is defined.

2. Build or update the OST

Read or create library/discovery/opportunity-solution-tree.md using the structure from guides/02-opportunity-solution-tree.md and templates/opportunity-solution-tree.md.

3. Generate an interview script

For a target opportunity node, produce a JTBD-style script using guides/04-jtbd-interview.md and templates/interview-script.md. Write to library/discovery/interview-scripts/<YYYY-MM-DD>-<opportunity-slug>.md.

4. Map assumptions

For a chosen solution, run the DVFU 2×2 protocol from guides/05-assumption-mapping.md using templates/assumption-map.md. Write to library/discovery/assumption-maps/<solution-slug>.md.

5. Design an experiment

For the highest-risk assumption, design the smallest invalidating experiment using guides/06-experiment-design.md and templates/experiment-plan.md. Write to library/discovery/experiments/<YYYY-MM-DD>-<experiment-slug>.md.

6. Test demand and make one scoped next decision

Use guides 07 and 08 with templates/demand-test-record.json, references/evidence-grades.md, and templates/discovery-decision.md. Declare the assumption, exposure, metric, proxy limitation, threshold, sample conditions, source/channel, and consent procedure before an authorized test. Preserve counterevidence and criteria changes. Choose one scoped CONTINUE, PIVOT, or STOP recommendation; CONTINUE discovery is not permission to build. Planned tests remain unexecuted. The checker validates bookkeeping only, never demand or conclusion correctness.

7. Scope the first version for handoff

Use guide 09 and templates/first-version-discovery-brief.md for one customer job, essential/manual/deferred/excluded items, constraints, unresolved assumptions, and acceptance observations. Preserve Accepted requirements. Hand formal requirements to library-wasp-drone after owner scope acceptance and the required tested assumption evidence; otherwise label the handoff unresolved discovery.

8. Summarize for stakeholders (optional)

On demand, produce a one-page weekly discovery summary using templates/weekly-summary.md.

Critical directives

• Never recommend building without at least one validated assumption test. Why: the "build less, learn more" loop exists to prevent building on wrong assumptions; skipping it is the failure mode continuous discovery is designed to catch. (Source: research/external/2026-05-20-torres-2026-roadmap-ai-discovery.md [source-repository research, not shipped with the plugin])
• Always anchor work to a single desired outcome. Why: OSTs without a defined outcome become wish lists. (Source: research/external/2026-05-20-opportunity-solution-tree-guide-2026.md [source-repository research, not shipped with the plugin])
• Distinguish opportunities (problems/desires) from solutions (product ideas). Why: conflating the two is the most common discovery anti-pattern. (Source: research/external/2026-05-20-opportunity-solution-tree-guide-2026.md [source-repository research, not shipped with the plugin])
• Use Torres' weekly cadence as the default structure. Why: continuous discovery requires rhythm; ad-hoc interviews generate anecdotes, not patterns. (Source: research/external/2026-05-20-continuous-discovery-habits-operationalized-2026.md [source-repository research, not shipped with the plugin])
• Ask "what's the story?" before coding any interview insight. Why: JTBD is story-based; jumping to themes before hearing the full narrative misses the motivation structure. (Source: research/external/2026-05-20-jtbd-switch-interview-moesta-method.md [source-repository research, not shipped with the plugin])
• Do not produce a PRD or implementation plan. Why: that is library-wasp-drone's job; hand off a validated opportunity + winning solution, not a spec.

Additive evidence and qualification

The 2026-10-07 living-primary refresh is recorded in references/research/demand-decision/ (manifest and cited distillation). That folder is source-repository research that is not shipped with the plugin, so do not require it; guides/07-test-demand-before-building.md and research/research-summary.md carry the shipped conclusions. Preserve the original research/ archive. examples/demand-decision-cases.md contains labeled synthetic weak-evidence, counterevidence, missing-data, small-test, and economic-stop cases. Run python <checked-skill-root>/scripts/check-demand-record.py <approved-record-path> for bounded bookkeeping; the unfilled template intentionally requires completion. scripts/test-demand-record.py verifies malformed and boundary input handling. Neither script authenticates sources or proves an experiment ran.

Folder layout

Copy code
discovery-research-stinger/
+- SKILL.md                          (this file)
+- README.md                         (one-page human overview)
+- guides/
|  +- 00-principles.md               (philosophy, three tenets, critical directives)
|  +- 01-desired-outcome.md          (outcome scoping, three-part test)
|  +- 02-opportunity-solution-tree.md (OST taxonomy, snapshot protocol, failure modes)
|  +- 03-interview-cadence.md        (weekly cadence, recruiting, structure)
|  +- 04-jtbd-interview.md           (Five-Act structure, forces diagram)
|  +- 05-assumption-mapping.md       (DVFU 2x2, Kill Zone protocol)
|  +- 06-experiment-design.md        (four archetypes, success criteria)
+- examples/
|  +- happy-path-saas-onboarding.md  (worked OST + interview + experiment for SaaS)
|  +- edge-case-b2b-stakeholders.md  (discovery in a complex B2B buying environment)
+- templates/
|  +- opportunity-solution-tree.md   (OST skeleton)
|  +- interview-script.md            (Five-Act script scaffold)
|  +- assumption-map.md              (DVFU 2x2 table)
|  +- experiment-plan.md             (experiment brief skeleton)
|  +- weekly-summary.md              (stakeholder summary one-pager)
+- reports/
|  +- README.md                      (describes what past-run summaries look like)
+- research/                         (populated by scripture-historian; DO NOT MODIFY)
   +- research-plan.md
   +- research-summary.md
   +- index.md
   +- internal/
   +- external/

Refresh cadence

• The procedural guides (00- through 06-) align with Teresa Torres' continuous discovery framework (stable since 2021 Continuous Discovery Habits). Refresh when Torres publishes a major framework update or when a new OST tooling standard emerges.
• The research folder covers the Nov 2025 - May 2026 window. Re-run scripture-historian at normal tier if a significant new source (e.g., a new Torres book/course, a major JTBD update from Moesta) emerges.
• Templates are stable; no cadence refresh expected.

Procedure: skill procedure Part of the Legion Army forged by Mario Aldayuz a.k.a @thenotoriousllama.