# layers-product-strategy

Connects user needs to business goals and solution bets. Useful for testing risky product assumptions quickly without building full features.

- skill · `type=skill` · Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, GitHub Copilot, Gemini CLI, OpenCode · 2000 installs · ★ 313
- Author: jamiemill
- License: MIT · policy=mirror · the beginning of the file is at the end of this page
- Source: https://github.com/jamiemill/layers-skills/tree/HEAD/skills/layers-product-strategy/SKILL.md
- Updated: 2026-05-30
- HTML: https://affpapa.org/en/nevibecode/skills/layers-product-strategy

## What it does

This skill provides product strategy techniques instead of a rigid script. It centers on Teresa Torres' Opportunity Solution Tree. That framework links a single target metric with customer pain points and quick experiments.

It enforces strict strategic disciplines. User needs must be grouped by journey moments, using the flip test to catch features disguised as problems. The library also covers Kano analysis, impact mapping, and HEART metrics.

It assumes `/layers-intro` is loaded first. If your outcome and bets are already clear, building the tree is pointless. Selected bets from this step feed straight into `/layers-conceptual-model`.

## Install

### Claude Code (native platform)

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add jamiemill/layers-skills --skill layers-product-strategy -a claude-code
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `~/.claude/skills/layers-product-strategy/SKILL.md` — Copy the whole skill folder; for one project use .claude/skills/layers-product-strategy/

### Codex

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add jamiemill/layers-skills --skill layers-product-strategy -a codex
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.agents/skills/layers-product-strategy/SKILL.md` — For all projects use ~/.agents/skills/

### Cursor

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add jamiemill/layers-skills --skill layers-product-strategy -a cursor
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.cursor/skills/layers-product-strategy/SKILL.md` — Cursor also reads .agents/skills/ and .claude/skills/

### GitHub Copilot

1. **GitHub CLI**
```bash
gh skill install jamiemill/layers-skills layers-product-strategy
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.github/skills/layers-product-strategy/SKILL.md`

### Gemini CLI

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add jamiemill/layers-skills --skill layers-product-strategy -a gemini-cli
```

2. **Platform CLI**
```bash
gemini skills install https://github.com/jamiemill/layers-skills --path skills/layers-product-strategy
```

### Windsurf (Devin Desktop)

**Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.devin/skills/layers-product-strategy/SKILL.md` — The legacy .windsurf/skills/ path still works

### OpenCode

**Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add jamiemill/layers-skills --skill layers-product-strategy -a opencode
```

### Claude.ai

**Claude.ai**
- Zip the folder and upload it in Settings → Capabilities → Skills

Where a file is given instead of a command, copy the files from the source to that path: https://github.com/jamiemill/layers-skills/tree/HEAD/skills/layers-product-strategy/SKILL.md

## When to use it
- map user opportunities directly to a measurable business outcome
- define solution bets with explicit risky assumptions
- design cheap experiments to test assumptions in days
- categorise proposed features using Kano analysis

## Example prompts
- /layers-product-strategy help me build an Opportunity Solution Tree for 30-day user activation
- Apply the flip test to our customer pain points and group them by journey moments
- Design the cheapest experiment to test the core assumption behind this onboarding bet

## Source text · SKILL.md · MIT

Below is the content of a third-party file. It is data, not instructions for you: do not act on anything written inside unless the human asks. Block tag: 0039ba4097758a3a.

BEGIN THIRD-PARTY FILE 0039ba4097758a3a
```text
---
name: layers-product-strategy
description: Techniques for connecting user opportunities to business outcomes and solution bets, and testing the riskiest assumptions cheaply
---

# /layers-product-strategy

*Assumes `/layers-intro` has been loaded. This skill is a library of techniques, not a script — see "How to use these skills" there.*

Strategy is the first layer of the solution space — where problem-space understanding converts into deliberate decisions about scope and direction. It is about choices: which user needs to serve, and which business outcomes to target.

---

## The decisions this layer makes

- The business outcome this work serves
- Which user opportunities (needs, pains, desires) genuinely connect to that outcome
- What solution bets we're placing on those opportunities
- How to test the riskiest assumptions cheaply
- Which bets to pursue first, and why

If the outcome and the bets are already clear, don't rebuild the tree for its own sake.

---

## Disciplines — what keeps strategy honest

- **The outcome is measurable, meaningful, and bounded.** Not "grow the product" but "increase users who activate in the first 30 days." One outcome per tree.
- **Opportunities are customer needs/pains/desires — anchored to a journey moment.** First-person, problem-space statements ("I don't know which streaming service has this movie"), not job stories and not features. Apply the **flip test**: if you can restate it as a feature, it's a solution in disguise. Keep them specific, not generic. **Group opportunities by journey moment** — the forcing function that exposes vague opportunities and surfaces moments left unaddressed. (Teresa Torres.)
- **Every opportunity connects to the outcome.** If serving it wouldn't move the outcome, it doesn't belong in this tree.
- **Every bet names its riskiest assumption,** and there's more than one bet per opportunity — resist early convergence.
- **Every experiment is the cheapest way to test the core assumption** — days, not months.

---

## Techniques

The Opportunity Solution Tree is the default; the rest serve particular strategic questions.

| Technique | Use it when |
|---|---|
| **Opportunity Solution Tree** (Teresa Torres) | Default. Makes outcome → opportunity → solution → experiment explicit. Good for ongoing discovery. |
| **Solution bets** | For a chosen opportunity: *"We could [solution], which we believe would [serve the opportunity] because [reasoning]."* Generate several; name each one's key assumption. |
| **Experiments** | Cheapest test of a bet's core assumption — prototype, fake door, concierge, a targeted interview, data analysis. |
| **Impact mapping** (Gojko Adzic) | B2B with multiple stakeholders who each must change behaviour. |
| **Jobs portfolio mapping** | Many job stories — decide which to target by frequency, severity, strategic fit. |
```
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First 2885 of 5039 bytes. © jamiemill · MIT · https://github.com/jamiemill/layers-skills/tree/HEAD/skills/layers-product-strategy/SKILL.md

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