4.0 KiB
Phase 1: Product Exploration (Product Brief) (Project brief)
Agent: Saga the Analyst
Output: A-Product-Brief/ (or your configured prefix)
What This Phase Does
Product Exploration establishes your strategic foundation through conversational discovery. Instead of filling out questionnaires, you have a conversation that builds understanding organically.
By the end, you'll have a Product Brief that captures your vision and serves as the north star for your entire project.
What You'll Create
Your Product Brief includes:
- Executive Summary - The vision that inspires teams
- Problem Statement - The "why" that drives decisions
- User Types - The "who" that guides design (initial identification)
- Solution Approach - The "how" that enables development
- Success Criteria - The "what" that measures progress
- Market Positioning - How you're different (optional: ICP framework)
How It Works
The Conversational Approach
Traditional requirements gathering treats people like databases - extracting answers through rigid questionnaires. WDS does it differently.
Instead of: "Please complete this 47-question requirements document"
WDS says: "Tell me about your project in your own words"
People light up when asked to share their vision. They become collaborators, not interrogation subjects.
The Session Flow
Opening (5-10 minutes)
Saga asks about your project in your own words. She listens for:
- What you emphasize naturally
- Where your energy goes
- What excites vs. what stresses you
- Your exact language and terminology
Exploration (15-30 minutes)
The conversation adapts to what you reveal:
- If you mention users → deeper into user insights
- If you mention problems → explore the cost of not solving
- If you mention competition → discover differentiation
- If you mention timeline → understand urgency drivers
Each answer reveals the next question. It's jazz, not classical music.
Synthesis (10-15 minutes)
Saga reflects back your vision in organized form:
- Connecting dots you shared across topics
- Highlighting insights you might not have seen
- Building the foundation for next phases
Living Document
As you talk, the Product Brief grows in real-time:
- Immediate validation and refinement
- Real-time course correction
- You own the content because you helped create it
- "Yes, exactly!" moments that build trust
When to Use This Phase
Always start here if:
- Building something new
- Starting a new project
- Need strategic clarity before diving into design
Skip if:
- You already have a clear, documented product brief
- Just enhancing an existing feature
- Working on a design system without new product context
What to Prepare
Come ready to share:
- Your project idea (even if rough)
- The problem you're solving
- Who might use it
- Why it matters to you
You don't need polished answers. The conversation will help clarify everything.
What Comes Next
Your Product Brief enables:
- Phase 2: User Research - Deeper into user psychology with your strategic context
- Phase 3: Requirements - Technical decisions aligned with your vision
- Phase 4: UX Design - Design work grounded in strategic purpose
The brief becomes the reference point everyone shares.
Tips for Great Sessions
Let the conversation flow
- Share what feels important, even if it seems tangential
- Follow your energy - where you're excited matters
Think out loud
- Half-formed thoughts are welcome
- will help you refine them
Be honest about uncertainty
- "I'm not sure about X" is useful information
- Better to surface doubts now than later
Review as you go
- Check that what's captured matches your thinking
- Correct misunderstandings immediately
Example Output
See: examples/dog-week-patterns/A-Product-Brief/ for a complete Product Brief example from a real project.
Phase 1 of the Whiteport Design Studio method