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Step 8.2: Gather Context
Your Task
Understand the existing product context before making changes.
Before You Start
Ensure you have:
- ✅ Completed step 8.1 (opportunity identified)
- ✅ Limited brief or improvement file created
- ✅ Clear understanding of the problem
Context A: Existing Product Entry Point
Gather Existing Materials
You're joining an existing product. Collect everything:
1. Business Context
Upload to: A-Project-Brief/existing-context/business/
- Business goals document
- Company strategy
- Product roadmap
- Competitive analysis
- Market research
Review and understand:
- Why does this product exist?
- What's the business model?
- Who are the competitors?
- What's the market position?
2. User Context
Upload to: A-Project-Brief/existing-context/users/
- User personas
- User research reports
- User interviews
- Analytics reports
- User feedback summaries
Review and understand:
- Who are the users?
- What are their needs?
- What are their pain points?
- What do they love?
- What do they complain about?
3. Product Context
Upload to: A-Project-Brief/existing-context/product/
- Product specifications
- Feature documentation
- Design system (if exists)
- Technical architecture
- API documentation
Review and understand:
- What features exist?
- How does it work?
- What's the tech stack?
- What are the constraints?
4. Use the Product
Critical: Experience it yourself!
-
Download/access the product
- Create an account
- Go through onboarding
- Use all major features
-
Document your experience
# First Impressions: [Product Name] **Date:** 2024-12-09 **Context:** First-time user, no prior knowledge ## Onboarding - Step 1: [What happened? How did it feel?] - Step 2: [What happened? How did it feel?] - Confusion points: [Where was I confused?] - Delights: [What felt great?] ## Core Features - Feature X: [Experience] - Feature Y: [Experience] ## Overall Impression [What's your gut feeling about this product?] -
Identify friction points
- Where did you get stuck?
- What was confusing?
- What felt broken?
- What exceeded expectations?
5. Create Focused Trigger Map
Based on your strategic challenge, create a focused trigger map:
File: B-Trigger-Map/focused-trigger-map.md
# Focused Trigger Map: [Challenge Name]
**Context:** Existing product improvement
**Focus:** [Specific feature/flow you're improving]
---
## Trigger Moment
**When does this happen?**
Example:
"User completes signup and reaches dashboard for first time"
---
## Current Experience
**What happens now?**
Example:
"1. Welcome screen (confusing value prop) 2. Family setup (unclear what 'family' means) 3. Dog addition (forced, feels like homework) 4. 60% drop off before reaching dashboard"
---
## Desired Outcome
**What should happen?**
Example:
"User understands value, completes setup smoothly,
reaches dashboard feeling confident and excited"
---
## Barriers
**What's preventing the desired outcome?**
Example:
"- Unclear value proposition
- 'Family' concept is confusing (cultural context)
- Forced dog addition feels like work
- No sense of progress or achievement
- No celebration of completion"
---
## Solution Focus
**What will we change to remove barriers?**
Example:
"- Clarify value prop on welcome screen
- Simplify family concept explanation
- Make dog addition optional
- Add progress indicators
- Add celebration on completion"
Context B: Continuous Improvement
You Already Know the Product
You designed it! But gather fresh data:
1. Analytics Deep Dive
Focus on the specific feature/flow you're improving:
# Analytics: Feature X Improvement
**Date Range:** Last 30 days
**Focus:** Feature X engagement
## Usage Metrics
- Users who saw Feature X: 1,200
- Users who used Feature X: 180 (15%)
- Users who completed action: 90 (7.5%)
- Drop-off point: Step 2 (40% drop off)
## User Segments
- New users: 10% usage
- Returning users: 20% usage
- Power users: 60% usage
## Insight
New and returning users struggle with Feature X.
Power users understand it. Suggests onboarding gap.
2. User Feedback Analysis
Categorize feedback about this specific feature:
# User Feedback: Feature X
**Date Range:** Last 30 days
**Total Mentions:** 24
## Themes
### Confusion (12 mentions)
- "I don't understand how to use Feature X"
- "Feature X seems broken"
- "What is Feature X for?"
### Requests (8 mentions)
- "Can Feature X do Y?"
- "Wish Feature X had Z"
### Praise (4 mentions)
- "Once I figured it out, Feature X is great!"
- "Feature X saves me time"
## Insight
Users who figure out Feature X love it.
But most users never figure it out.
Onboarding is the problem.
3. Review Original Design Intent
Why did you design it this way?
# Original Design Intent: Feature X
**When Designed:** 2024-10-15
**Original Goal:** [What were you trying to achieve?]
**Design Decisions:** [What choices did you make?]
**Assumptions:** [What did you assume about users?]
## What We Learned
- Assumption: Users would understand Feature X intuitively
- Reality: Users need explicit guidance
- Lesson: Add onboarding for complex features
4. Competitive Analysis
How do competitors handle this?
# Competitive Analysis: Feature X
## Competitor A
- Approach: [How do they do it?]
- Onboarding: [Do they have guidance?]
- Pros: [What works well?]
- Cons: [What doesn't work?]
## Competitor B
- Approach: [How do they do it?]
- Onboarding: [Do they have guidance?]
- Pros: [What works well?]
- Cons: [What doesn't work?]
## Insights
[What can we learn from competitors?]
Synthesis
Combine all context into actionable insights:
# Context Synthesis: [Improvement Name]
## What We Know
1. [Key insight from analytics]
2. [Key insight from user feedback]
3. [Key insight from competitive analysis]
4. [Key insight from original design]
## Root Cause
[Why is this problem happening?]
## Hypothesis
[What do we believe will solve it?]
## Validation Plan
[How will we know if we're right?]
Next Step
After gathering context:
[C] Continue to step-8.3-design-update.md
Success Metrics
✅ All existing materials gathered ✅ Product experienced firsthand ✅ Focused trigger map created (if new entry) ✅ Analytics analyzed (if continuous improvement) ✅ User feedback categorized ✅ Root cause identified ✅ Hypothesis formed
Failure Modes
❌ Not using the product yourself ❌ Relying only on documentation ❌ Ignoring user feedback ❌ Not identifying root cause ❌ Jumping to solutions too quickly
Remember: Understanding context deeply leads to better solutions!