Write a user-centered problem statement with who is blocked, what they are trying to do, why it matters, and how it feels. Use when framing discovery, prioritization, or a PRD.
The problem-statement skill helps product managers and teams articulate a problem from the user's point of view before jumping to solutions. It solves a common failure mode in product work, framing initiatives around feature requests or business symptoms rather than the underlying user struggle, by providing an empathy-driven framework that forces you to name who is blocked, what they are trying to do, why it matters, and how it feels. The skill is explicit that this is not a requirements document but a human-centered problem narrative meant to ensure you are solving a problem worth solving.
The skill is built around a Problem Framing Framework drawn from Jobs-to-be-Done and empathy mapping, structured as a narrative (I am / Trying to / But / Because / Which makes me feel), a Context and Constraints section, and a single distilled Final Problem Statement. It ships a fill-in template and a worked example, walks through a four-step workflow (gather user context, draft the narrative, document constraints, craft the final statement), and includes quality checks and anti-patterns that flag solutions in disguise, business symptoms, feature requests, and generic vague statements. It also cross-references companion skills for jobs-to-be-done and proto-personas.
It is aimed at product managers, designers, and founders who are kicking off discovery, validating a problem, aligning stakeholders before solutioning, or pitching why a problem is worth solving. The skill is deliberately narrow: it explicitly advises against use when no user research has been done, for internal operational problems, or as a substitute for a PRD.
When kicking off discovery or problem validation, aligning stakeholders before solutioning, socializing a problem with engineering/design/exec teams, or when you have feature requests but unclear underlying problems. It is meant to frame the problem before a PRD defines the solution.
It works best with who the user is and what they are struggling to do; optionally what is blocking them, why it matters, how it feels, and supporting evidence. You can pass this inline with the invocation, or arrive empty-handed and the skill will ask for the user and their goal first.
A Problem Framing Narrative (I am / Trying to / But / Because / Which makes me feel), a Context and Constraints list, and one concise Final Problem Statement, using the provided template.md and following the quality checks in the skill.
When you have not done any user research yet (the skill says interview first rather than guess), for internal operational problems, or as a replacement for a PRD.
Quick Setup:
.claude/skills/Repository
deanpeters/product-manager-skills