# Step 7: Defining Core Experience

## MANDATORY EXECUTION RULES (READ FIRST):

- 🛑 NEVER generate content without user input

- 📖 CRITICAL: ALWAYS read the complete step file before taking any action - partial understanding leads to incomplete decisions
- 🔄 CRITICAL: When loading next step with 'C', ensure the entire file is read and understood before proceeding
- ✅ ALWAYS treat this as collaborative discovery between UX facilitator and stakeholder
- 📋 YOU ARE A UX FACILITATOR, not a content generator
- 💬 FOCUS on defining the core interaction that defines the product
- 🎯 COLLABORATIVE discovery, not assumption-based design
- ✅ YOU MUST ALWAYS SPEAK OUTPUT In your Agent communication style with the config `{communication_language}`
- ✅ YOU MUST ALWAYS WRITE all artifact and document content in `{document_output_language}`

## EXECUTION PROTOCOLS:

- 🎯 Show your analysis before taking any action
- ⚠️ Present A/P/C menu after generating defining experience content
- 💾 ONLY save when user chooses C (Continue)
- 📖 Update output file frontmatter, adding this step to the end of the list of stepsCompleted.
- 🚫 FORBIDDEN to load next step until C is selected

## COLLABORATION MENUS (A/P/C):

This step will generate content and present choices:

- **A (Advanced Elicitation)**: Use discovery protocols to develop deeper experience insights
- **P (Party Mode)**: Bring multiple perspectives to define optimal core experience
- **C (Continue)**: Save the content to the document and proceed to next step

## PROTOCOL INTEGRATION:

- When 'A' selected: Read fully and follow: skill:bmad-advanced-elicitation
- When 'P' selected: Read fully and follow: {project-root}/_bmad/core/workflows/bmad-party-mode/workflow.md
- PROTOCOLS always return to this step's A/P/C menu
- User accepts/rejects protocol changes before proceeding

## CONTEXT BOUNDARIES:

- Current document and frontmatter from previous steps are available
- Core experience from step 3 provides foundation
- Design system choice from step 6 informs implementation
- Focus on the defining interaction that makes the product special

## YOUR TASK:

Define the core interaction that, if nailed, makes everything else follow in the user experience.

## DEFINING EXPERIENCE SEQUENCE:

### 1. Identify the Defining Experience

Focus on the core interaction:
"Every successful product has a defining experience - the core interaction that, if we nail it, everything else follows.

**Think about these famous examples:**

- Tinder: "Swipe to match with people"
- Snapchat: "Share photos that disappear"
- Instagram: "Share perfect moments with filters"
- Spotify: "Discover and play any song instantly"

**For {{project_name}}:**
What's the core action that users will describe to their friends?
What's the interaction that makes users feel successful?
If we get ONE thing perfectly right, what should it be?"

### 2. Explore the User's Mental Model

Understand how users think about the core task:
"**User Mental Model Questions:**

- How do users currently solve this problem?
- What mental model do they bring to this task?
- What's their expectation for how this should work?
- Where are they likely to get confused or frustrated?

**Current Solutions:**

- What do users love/hate about existing approaches?
- What shortcuts or workarounds do they use?
- What makes existing solutions feel magical or terrible?"

### 3. Define Success Criteria for Core Experience

Establish what makes the core interaction successful:
"**Core Experience Success Criteria:**

- What makes users say 'this just works'?
- When do they feel smart or accomplished?
- What feedback tells them they're doing it right?
- How fast should it feel?
- What should happen automatically?

**Success Indicators:**

- [Success indicator 1]
- [Success indicator 2]
- [Success indicator 3]"

### 4. Identify Novel vs. Established Patterns

Determine if we need to innovate or can use proven patterns:
"**Pattern Analysis:**
Looking at your core experience, does this:

- Use established UX patterns that users already understand?
- Require novel interaction design that needs user education?
- Combine familiar patterns in innovative ways?

**If Novel:**

- What makes this different from existing approaches?
- How will we teach users this new pattern?
- What familiar metaphors can we use?

**If Established:**

- Which proven patterns should we adopt?
- How can we innovate within familiar patterns?
- What's our unique twist on established interactions?"

### 5. Define Experience Mechanics

Break down the core interaction into details:
"**Core Experience Mechanics:**
Let's design the step-by-step flow for [defining experience]:

**1. Initiation:**

- How does the user start this action?
- What triggers or invites them to begin?

**2. Interaction:**

- What does the user actually do?
- What controls or inputs do they use?
- How does the system respond?

**3. Feedback:**

- What tells users they're succeeding?
- How do they know when it's working?
- What happens if they make a mistake?

**4. Completion:**

- How do users know they're done?
- What's the successful outcome?
- What's next?"

### 6. Generate Defining Experience Content

Prepare the content to append to the document:

#### Content Structure:

When saving to document, append these Level 2 and Level 3 sections:

```markdown
## 2. Core User Experience

### 2.1 Defining Experience

[Defining experience description based on conversation]

### 2.2 User Mental Model

[User mental model analysis based on conversation]

### 2.3 Success Criteria

[Success criteria for core experience based on conversation]

### 2.4 Novel UX Patterns

[Novel UX patterns analysis based on conversation]

### 2.5 Experience Mechanics

[Detailed mechanics for core experience based on conversation]
```

### 7. Present Content and Menu

Show the generated defining experience content and present choices:
"I've defined the core experience for {{project_name}} - the interaction that will make users love this product.

**Here's what I'll add to the document:**

[Show the complete markdown content from step 6]

**What would you like to do?**
[A] Advanced Elicitation - Let's refine the core experience definition
[P] Party Mode - Bring different perspectives on the defining interaction
[C] Continue - Save this to the document and move to visual foundation

### 8. Handle Menu Selection

#### If 'A' (Advanced Elicitation):

- Read fully and follow: skill:bmad-advanced-elicitation with the current defining experience content
- Process the enhanced experience insights that come back
- Ask user: "Accept these improvements to the defining experience? (y/n)"
- If yes: Update content with improvements, then return to A/P/C menu
- If no: Keep original content, then return to A/P/C menu

#### If 'P' (Party Mode):

- Read fully and follow: {project-root}/_bmad/core/workflows/bmad-party-mode/workflow.md with the current defining experience
- Process the collaborative experience insights that come back
- Ask user: "Accept these changes to the defining experience? (y/n)"
- If yes: Update content with improvements, then return to A/P/C menu
- If no: Keep original content, then return to A/P/C menu

#### If 'C' (Continue):

- Append the final content to `{planning_artifacts}/ux-design-specification.md`
- Update frontmatter: append step to end of stepsCompleted array
- Load `./step-08-visual-foundation.md`

## APPEND TO DOCUMENT:

When user selects 'C', append the content directly to the document using the structure from step 6.

## SUCCESS METRICS:

✅ Defining experience clearly articulated
✅ User mental model thoroughly analyzed
✅ Success criteria established for core interaction
✅ Novel vs. established patterns properly evaluated
✅ Experience mechanics designed in detail
✅ A/P/C menu presented and handled correctly
✅ Content properly appended to document when C selected

## FAILURE MODES:

❌ Not identifying the true core interaction
❌ Missing user's mental model and expectations
❌ Not establishing clear success criteria
❌ Not properly evaluating novel vs. established patterns
❌ Experience mechanics too vague or incomplete
❌ Not presenting A/P/C menu after content generation
❌ Appending content without user selecting 'C'

❌ **CRITICAL**: Reading only partial step file - leads to incomplete understanding and poor decisions
❌ **CRITICAL**: Proceeding with 'C' without fully reading and understanding the next step file
❌ **CRITICAL**: Making decisions without complete understanding of step requirements and protocols

## NEXT STEP:

After user selects 'C' and content is saved to document, load `./step-08-visual-foundation.md` to establish visual design foundation.

Remember: Do NOT proceed to step-08 until user explicitly selects 'C' from the A/P/C menu and content is saved!
