identify-assumptions-new

identify-assumptions-new helps teams surface the risky assumptions behind a new product idea across eight risk categories. It solves the early-stage problem that most new product ideas won't perform as hoped by making hidden assumptions explicit, so they can be evaluated and tested before significant investment. It extends the four core product risks from Teresa Torres's Continuous Discovery Habits — Value, Usability, Viability, and Feasibility — with four additional categories especially critical for new products: Ethics, Go-to-Market, Strategy & Objectives, and Team.

The skill works through a structured process. If the user provides files such as business plans or research, it reads them first. It then thinks about why the product might fail from three perspectives — Product Manager (market demand, willingness to pay, competitive landscape), Designer (first-time user experience, onboarding, engagement), and Engineer (build vs. buy, scalability, technical debt). Next it identifies assumptions across all eight risk categories, each with guiding questions (for example, Go-to-Market asks whether you have the required channels and the right messaging, timing, and launch approach). Finally, for each assumption it rates confidence and suggests a test, working step by step, and saves the result as markdown.

Target users are product managers, founders, and teams evaluating startup risks, assessing a new product concept, or mapping assumptions for a new venture. The product concept, target segment, and feature idea are provided by the user as arguments. The skill grounds its framing in the observation that good teams assume at least three-quarters of their ideas won't perform as hoped, and it points to further reading including the Assumption Prioritization Canvas and a Continuous Product Discovery masterclass for deeper application.