pm-market-research

Market Research

Help product builders discover and validate product opportunities through market research.

Research Methods

Use WebSearch and WebFetch based on what you need:

Need	Method	Example
Find pain points	WebSearch	"frustrated with X" reddit, "I wish there was" HackerNews
Discover trends	WebSearch	trending products on Product Hunt, GitHub trending
Analyze competitors	WebFetch	competitor pricing pages, feature lists
Understand users	WebSearch	user discussions, reviews, complaints
Validate market	WebSearch + WebFetch	market reports, industry analysis

Note: All research uses publicly available web sources.

Product Philosophy

Focus on small and beautiful, not large and comprehensive:

• Start with specific pain points - Solve one problem exceptionally well, not many problems poorly
• Target niche users - Better to be essential to 100 users than nice-to-have for 10,000
• Minimum viable scope - Ship the smallest version that delivers real value
• Iterate based on feedback - Let users guide expansion, don't predict features

Why this matters:

• Large teams build platforms; small teams win with focused solutions
• Users choose specialists over generalists for critical pain points
• Faster to market = faster to learn what actually matters
• Less to build = less to maintain = more sustainable

Use brainstorming skill when exploring ideas to ensure focus on user pain points and small-beautiful approach.

When to Use

• Starting a new project but unsure what to build
• Have a vague idea and want to validate it
• Need to understand market landscape before committing

Process

Step 1: Understand Starting Point

Gather three pieces of context before researching:

1. Direction: Does user have a product idea, or exploring options?
2. Goal: Monetization, learning, or solving personal pain point?
3. Market: Target region/audience?

How to gather: Check what's already clear from user's message, then ask about missing pieces in a single question. Example: user says "I want to build a subscription manager to make money" → direction and goal are clear, only ask about target market.

DO NOT proceed to research until all three are confirmed. Goal and Market determine which competitors to analyze, what pricing to reference, and which trends are relevant.

Based on whether user has a direction:

• Clear direction → Proceed to Step 3 (Deep Dive)
• Vague/uncertain → Proceed to Step 2 (Trend Exploration)

Step 2: Trend Exploration (when direction unclear)

Purpose: Discover potential directions (breadth). This step identifies options—detailed validation happens in Step 3.

Help user find direction through trend research:

1. Use WebSearch to discover:

   • Trending products on Product Hunt, GitHub trending
   • Emerging pain points in developer/productivity tools
   • Hot topics and underserved niches

2. Present 2-3 potential directions with:

   • Recommended option first with reasoning
   • Specific pain point being solved
   • Target niche and why it fits their goals
   • Pros/cons for each

3. Wait for user to confirm direction, then proceed to Step 3 (Deep Dive).

Step 3: Deep Dive (after direction confirmed)

Purpose: Validate the chosen direction (depth). This step provides thorough analysis to inform the PRD.

Research the selected direction thoroughly:

Competitor Analysis:

• Identify 3-5 main players
• Analyze pricing, features, positioning
• Find gaps and weaknesses
• Research competitor pain points: Search for user complaints, negative reviews, feature requests (e.g., "[competitor] frustrating", "[competitor] missing feature", "[competitor] alternative" on Reddit, HackerNews, Twitter)
• Use WebSearch and WebFetch for data

User Research:

• Define target user persona
• Identify core pain points
• Understand current solutions and frustrations

Market Opportunity:

• Entry points for a new player
• Differentiation opportunities
• Risk factors

Step 4: Output Document

Generate docs/prd/research-<topic>.md:

# <Topic> Market Research

## Goals & Background
- Purpose: [user's goal]
- Constraints: [if any]

## Market Opportunity
- Market overview
- Trends and timing
- Why now

## Competitor Analysis

| Competitor | Strengths | Weaknesses | Pricing |
|------------|-----------|------------|---------|
| ...        | ...       | ...        | ...     |

### User Pain Points with Competitors
- [Competitor A]: [common complaints, missing features]
- [Competitor B]: [common complaints, missing features]

## Target Users & Pain Points
- Primary persona
- Core pain points
- Current workarounds

## Recommended Direction
- Suggested approach
- Differentiation strategy
- Rationale

After generating the document, suggest: "Want to dive deeper into competitor features? Use /pm-competitor-analysis for detailed analysis. Or skip to /pm-prd if ready to define requirements."

Key Principles

• Proactive research: Don't just ask questions—actively search and analyze
• Opinionated recommendations: Lead with recommendations, explain reasoning
• One question at a time: Keep dialogue focused, don't overwhelm
• User decides: Present options, let user choose direction
• Match user's language: Output in the same language the user uses in conversation

Handling Edge Cases

• User abandons mid-process: Save any partial insights gathered so far. Offer to resume later.
• Insufficient information: If user's responses are too vague to proceed, ask one clarifying question. If still unclear after 2 attempts, suggest starting with a more concrete pain point or use case.
• WebSearch/WebFetch fails: Note the gap in research, proceed with available data, and flag limitations in the output document.