# layers-user-needs

A library of techniques for drawing out and ranking user needs, pains and desires — the raw material for product strategy.

- skill · `type=skill` · Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, GitHub Copilot, Gemini CLI, OpenCode · 1900 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-user-needs/SKILL.md
- Updated: 2026-05-30
- HTML: https://affpapa.org/en/nevibecode/skills/layers-user-needs

## What it does

The skill works through what users are trying to achieve and why. Outputs are opportunities in three shapes: needs, pains and desires. The author treats them as an interpretation built on observed behaviour and domain knowledge, not a direct capture of reality.

What's inside is a set of techniques rather than a fixed script. Job stories are the default, framed as "when [situation], I want to [motivation], so I can [outcome]". Top tasks analysis suits a large existing user base, ODI desired outcomes fit when you need measurable statements. The disciplines matter as much as the techniques: keep the need separate from the solution, strip any mention of your own product out of the "when" clause, and mark each need as observed, inferred or assumed. A workaround someone already built — a spreadsheet, a manual email — counts as strong signal.

The skill assumes `/layers-intro` is already loaded. It doesn't run a fixed sequence, it offers whichever technique fits, so the result depends on how precisely you describe the users and the situation. If most needs are still assumptions, the author suggests gathering evidence with `/layers-observed-behaviour` first instead of building strategy on top of them.

## Install

### Claude Code (native platform)

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

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

### Codex

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

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

### Cursor

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

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

### GitHub Copilot

1. **GitHub CLI**
```bash
gh skill install jamiemill/layers-skills layers-user-needs
```

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

### Gemini CLI

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

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

### Windsurf (Devin Desktop)

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

### OpenCode

**Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add jamiemill/layers-skills --skill layers-user-needs -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-user-needs/SKILL.md

## When to use it
- state user needs without tying them to the current product
- separate a real need from a solution wearing its clothes
- surface emotional and social jobs, not just functional ones
- mark which needs rest on evidence and which are assumptions
- rank opportunities by importance and how badly they're served today

## Example prompts
- help me write job stories for users who compile reports by hand
- run these needs through the skill's disciplines and mark confidence on each
- what hidden needs are we missing? look at what users do before and after this moment

## Source text · SKILL.md · MIT

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BEGIN THIRD-PARTY FILE 5487a317134f4e80
```text
---
name: layers-user-needs
description: Techniques for eliciting and prioritising user needs, pains, and desires — the opportunities that feed product strategy
---

# /layers-user-needs

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

User needs are what we think users are trying to achieve, and why — an interpretation built on observed behaviour and domain knowledge, not a direct capture of reality. This layer sits between the messy raw material of observation and the deliberate decisions of the solution space.

The outputs here are **opportunities**: needs (what users want to achieve), pains (what causes friction), and desires (improvements they'd value). All three are valid — elicit all three.

---

## The decisions this layer makes

- Who exactly the users are whose needs we're defining — and in what situation
- What jobs they're trying to do: functional, emotional, and social
- Which needs are grounded in evidence, and which are assumptions
- Which needs matter most, and why

If the needs are already clear and grounded, don't re-elicit them for the sake of it — take them to `/layers-product-strategy`.

---

## Disciplines — what keeps needs honest

- **Need, not solution.** "When I need a report, I want to export to CSV" is a solution. Push to the underlying need.
- **Strip the mechanism.** If the "When" clause references your specific solution (your dashboard, your CSM, your weekly email), you're describing the current system, not the need. Re-state it independent of who or what serves it: *what's true about the user at the moment they need this?* The need follows from the state, not the mechanism.
- **The "When" must be picturable.** Specific enough to see the moment it happens — triggered by an event, a feeling, a rhythm, or a threshold crossed. Push until it is.
- **Elicit emotional and social jobs, not just functional.** They're chronically under-articulated even when they're shaping behaviour. Asking explicitly is usually what surfaces them. (Functional → interaction & model; emotional → surface tone/feedback; social → surface, sometimes strategy.)
- **Mark confidence:** observed / inferred / assumed.
- **Workarounds are signal.** A need real enough to motivate a spreadsheet or a workaround email is a strong one.

---

## Techniques
```
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