Planning Skill

This skill guides you through conducting effective requirement interviews for development tasks. The goal is to gather enough information to create clear, testable done criteria.

Interview Philosophy

• Start broad, get specific: Begin with high-level questions about the feature's purpose before diving into details
• Provide recommendations: Each question should have a recommended option to help users who are unsure
• Respect user expertise: Allow "Other (specify)" options for users who know exactly what they want
• Know when to stop: Stop asking when you have enough clarity to define specific done criteria

Question Categories

1. Scope Questions

Define the boundaries of the feature.

Example questions:

• "What's the main goal of this feature?"
• "Which users will use this feature?"
• "What's the minimum viable version of this feature?"

2. Data Questions

Understand the data involved.

Example questions:

• "What information needs to be displayed?"
• "Where does this data come from?"
• "What happens if data is missing?"

3. UI/UX Questions

Clarify the visual and interaction design.

Example questions:

• "Where should this feature appear in the app?"
• "What should happen when the user clicks/submits?"
• "How should loading states be handled?"

4. Edge Case Questions

Handle unusual situations.

Example questions:

• "What happens with empty data?"
• "What error messages should appear?"
• "How should the feature behave offline?"

5. Technical Constraint Questions

Identify technical requirements and limitations.

Example questions:

• "Are there performance requirements?"
• "Does this need to work on specific browsers/devices?"
• "Are there accessibility requirements?"

Question Structure

Each question should have:

1. Clear question text: Specific and unambiguous
2. 3-5 options: Including a recommended choice (marked with "(Recommended)")
3. Option descriptions: Brief explanation of each choice's implications
4. multiSelect flag: Set to true when multiple options can apply

Example Question Format

Question: "How should form validation work?"
Header: "Validation"
Options:
  - label: "Real-time validation (Recommended)"
    description: "Validate as user types, show errors immediately"
  - label: "On submit only"
    description: "Validate when form is submitted"
  - label: "On blur"
    description: "Validate when user leaves each field"
  - label: "No validation"
    description: "Accept any input"

Interview Flow

Phase 1: Understanding (1-2 questions)

• What is the user trying to build?
• What problem does it solve?

Phase 2: Scope Definition (2-3 questions)

• What are the core features?
• What's out of scope for now?

Phase 3: Details (2-4 questions)

• Specific UI/UX decisions
• Data handling
• Error cases

Phase 4: Technical (1-2 questions, if needed)

• Performance requirements
• Browser/device support

When to Stop Asking

Stop the interview when you can answer "yes" to all of these:

1. Clear purpose: You understand why this feature exists
2. Defined scope: You know what's in and out of scope
3. Testable outcomes: You can describe specific, observable behaviors
4. Edge cases covered: You know how errors and empty states should behave

Output Format

After the interview, summarize requirements in this format:

## Requirements
- [Core requirement 1]
- [Core requirement 2]
- [UI requirement]
- [Data requirement]
- [Error handling requirement]

## Technical Decisions
- [Framework/library choices]
- [Architecture decisions]
- [Browser/device support]

Tips for Effective Interviews

1. Don't over-ask: 5-8 questions is usually enough
2. Group related questions: Use multiSelect to combine related choices
3. Provide context: Explain why you're asking if the question might seem odd
4. Accept defaults: If the user keeps choosing recommended options, they likely want a standard implementation
5. Summarize understanding: Before defining done criteria, confirm your understanding of the requirements