Customer-Centric Design

This skill guides engineers and designers toward the right methodology for understanding users and validating solutions. It emphasizes solving real problems for real people.

Use-When

This skill activates when:

Agent designs a new feature or product
Agent asks "how do I know this is a real problem?"
Agent needs to choose between qualitative vs quantitative research
Agent wants to validate a design before building
Agent asks "what metrics should I track?"
Agent receives user feedback requesting a feature
Agent needs to measure design impact

Core Rules

ALWAYS validate the problem exists before designing a solution
ALWAYS define success metrics before building
ALWAYS choose methodology based on knowledge gap, not preference
NEVER assume you know what users need without evidence
ALWAYS validate design with actual users before shipping

Common Agent Mistakes

Building features based on assumptions without problem validation
Choosing research methods randomly instead of matching to situation
Tracking vanity metrics that don't correlate with user success
Skipping user validation because "it's obvious"
Measuring activity instead of outcomes

Methodology Decision Tree

Use this decision framework to choose your approach:

Is the problem well-understood?
├── YES: Do users already complain about it?
│   ├── YES → Validate with analytics + quick usability test
│   └── NO → Optimize existing flow, measure impact
└── NO: Is this a new problem space?
    ├── YES → Qualitative research (interviews, observations)
    └── UNCERTAIN → Hybrid: qualitative discovery + quantitative validation

Examples

✅ Correct

// Before: Validating the problem exists
// Step 1: Talk to 5 customers about the pain point
// Step 2: Check support tickets for related issues
// Step 3: Analyze product analytics for drop-off points

// Step 4: Define success metrics BEFORE building
const successMetrics = {
  leading: "time-to-complete",    // What we can move
  lagging: "completion-rate",     // The outcome
  guardrail: "error-rate",        // What we must not hurt
}

// Step 5: Validate with prototype before full build
// Run usability test with 5 users on Figma prototype

❌ Wrong

// Wrong: Building without problem validation
// "Users probably want dark mode, let's add it"

// Wrong: Choosing methodology arbitrarily
// "Let's run a survey" (when you need deep understanding)

// Wrong: Vanity metrics
analytics.track("button-clicks")  // Activity, not outcome

// Wrong: No validation before shipping
// "It looks good, let's ship and see what happens"

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