NW-DISCOVER: Evidence-Based Product Discovery

Wave: DISCOVER | Agent: Scout (nw-product-discoverer)

Overview

Execute evidence-based product discovery through assumption testing and market validation. First wave in nWave (DISCOVER > DISCUSS > SPIKE > DESIGN > DEVOPS > DISTILL > DELIVER).

Scout establishes product-market fit through rigorous customer development using Mom Test interviewing principles and continuous discovery practices.

Output Tiers (per D2)

Provenance: feature lean-wave-documentation — D2 (schema-typed sections), D10 (one-line expansion descriptions). Tier-1 [REF] sections (always emitted) + Tier-2 EXPANSION CATALOG items (lazy, on-demand) are the two output bands. Full contract + provenance for [REF] / [WHY] / [HOW] heading convention: nWave/skills/nw-density-resolution-contract/SKILL.md.

Tier-1 [REF] — always emitted

Under ## Wave: DISCOVER / [REF] <Section> headings:

• Persona ID — one-line user identifier mapped to the journey
• Opportunity statement — single-sentence problem/opportunity framing
• Validated assumptions — list with confidence level per item
• Invalidated assumptions — list with evidence reference per item
• Dropped options — alternatives weighed and rejected (one-line each)
• Decision gate (G1-G4) — pass/fail status per gate
• Constraints established — evidence-backed constraints from interviews
• Pre-requisites — dependencies on prior waves or features

Tier-2 EXPANSION CATALOG — lazy, on-demand (per D10)

Rendered under ## Wave: DISCOVER / [WHY|HOW] <Section> only when requested via --expand <id> (DDD-2), the broad wave-end menu (expansion_prompt = "ask"), a declared trigger under expansion_prompt = "ask-intelligent", mode = "full" auto-expansion, or an ad-hoc user request mid-session.

Expansion ID	Tier label	One-line description
discovery-interview-transcripts	[WHY]	Full interview transcripts with verbatim quotes (Mom Test compliance evidence)
jtbd-analysis	[WHY]	Jobs-to-be-Done analysis: functional/emotional/social dimensions per job
taste-evaluation-rationale	[WHY]	Decision rationale for each evaluated opportunity (why fit, why not)
alternative-opportunities	[WHY]	Alternative product opportunities considered and rejected
four-forces-narrative	[WHY]	Push/Pull/Anxiety/Habit narrative analysis per primary job
lean-canvas-walkthrough	[HOW]	Lean canvas section-by-section walkthrough for stakeholder reviews
interview-protocol	[HOW]	Step-by-step interview script with Mom Test follow-up patterns
expansion-catalog-rationale	[WHY]	Why this set of expansions, why these defaults, why D10 enforces one-line descriptions

Density resolution (per D12)

Call resolve_density(global_config) from scripts/shared/density_config.py after reading ~/.nwave/global-config.json (missing/malformed = empty dict). Returns mode ("lean" | "full") + expansion_prompt ("ask" | "ask-intelligent" | "always-skip" | "always-expand" | "smart") per the D12 cascade (resolver-internal, DDD-5 — do NOT replicate locally). Branch on density.mode for what to emit; branch on density.expansion_prompt at wave end for menu behaviour. DISCOVER declares no ask-intelligent triggers: emit no menu and the shared-contract no-trigger skip event; do not invent triggers. Full cascade detail, branch semantics, ad-hoc override workflow ("expand X" / "tell me why"): nWave/skills/nw-density-resolution-contract/SKILL.md.

Telemetry (per D4 + DDD-6)

Every expansion choice emits a DocumentationDensityEvent (dataclass at src/des/domain/telemetry/documentation_density_event.py) via event.to_audit_event() → JsonlAuditLogWriter().log_event(...). Schema fields per D4: feature_id, wave, expansion_id, choice, timestamp. For this wave the schema declares "wave": "DISCOVER". Use helper scripts/shared/telemetry.py:write_density_event(...) — do NOT write JSONL directly.

Wave-specific signal: DISCOVER feeding into DISCUSS — downstream --expand invocations are a signal the lean baseline is too thin. Full emission rules (one event per ask choice; synthetic skip event for always-skip; per-item expand event for full / always-expand): nWave/skills/nw-density-resolution-contract/SKILL.md.

Context Files Required

• docs/project-brief.md — Initial product vision (if available)
• docs/market-context.md — Market research and competitive landscape (if available)

Previous Artifacts

None (DISCOVER is the first wave).

Wave Decisions Summary

Before completing DISCOVER, produce docs/feature/{feature-id}/discover/wave-decisions.md:

1. Record Key Decisions — List each decision as [D1] {decision}: {rationale} (see: {source-file}). Gate: every major discovery choice has a rationale entry.
2. Record Constraints — List each constraint established from evidence. Gate: all constraints have an evidence source.
3. Record Validated Assumptions — List each assumption confirmed, with confidence level. Gate: confidence level stated for each.
4. Record Invalidated Assumptions — List each assumption disproved, with evidence reference. Gate: evidence reference present for each invalidation.

This summary enables downstream waves to quickly assess DISCOVER outcomes without reading all artifacts.

Document Update (Back-Propagation)

DISCOVER is the first wave but it DOES write to SSOT. It has no prior wave to back-propagate to, but it seeds the SSOT for downstream waves:

1. Seed journeys — Write initial docs/product/journeys/{name}.yaml with the persona, opportunity statement, and the discovered job(s) traced from interviews. DISCUSS will refine and lock this schema.
2. Seed personas (optional) — When persona-narrative expansion is triggered, write docs/product/personas/{name}.yaml with the validated persona profile. Otherwise leave to DISCUSS.
3. No prior-wave Changed-Assumptions section — DISCOVER produces evidence; it does not contradict prior decisions because there are none. The Changed-Assumptions pattern starts in DISCUSS.

Per D5 (lean-wave-documentation): DISCOVER's docs/product/journeys/ feeder artifact stays Tier-1 — these are seed artifacts for the product SSOT, not feature-delta sections.

Agent Invocation

1. Dispatch Agent — Invoke @nw-product-discoverer with Execute *discover for {product-concept-name}. Gate: agent dispatched.
2. Provide Context Files — Pass docs/project-brief.md and docs/market-context.md if available. Gate: available context files referenced.
3. Apply Configuration — Set interactive: high, output_format: markdown, interview_depth: comprehensive, evidence_standard: past_behavior. Gate: configuration confirmed.

Peer Review Gate

1. Dispatch Reviewer — Invoke @nw-product-discoverer-reviewer before handoff to DISCUSS. Gate: reviewer dispatched, all discovery artifacts available.
2. Verify Review Scope — Reviewer checks: evidence quality (past behavior, not future intent), interview coverage and threshold compliance, assumption validation rigor (G1-G4 gates), lean canvas coherence with interview findings. Gate: all four dimensions assessed.
3. Handle Rejection — On REJECTION: revise artifacts per reviewer findings and re-submit. Gate: max 2 attempts; escalate to user if unresolved.
4. Confirm Approval — Block handoff to DISCUSS until reviewer returns APPROVED. Gate: explicit approval received.

Success Criteria

Refer to Scout's quality gates in ~/.claude/agents/nw/nw-product-discoverer.md.

• All 4 decision gates passed (G1-G4)
• Minimum interview thresholds met per phase
• Evidence quality standards met (past behavior, not future intent)
• Peer review approved by @nw-product-discoverer-reviewer
• Handoff accepted by product-owner (DISCUSS wave)

Next Wave

Handoff To: nw-product-owner (DISCUSS wave) Deliverables: See Scout's handoff package specification in agent file

Examples

Example 1: New SaaS product discovery

/nw-discover invoice-automation

Scout conducts customer development interviews, validates problem-solution fit through Mom Test questioning, and produces a lean canvas with evidence-backed assumptions.

Outputs

Single narrative file: docs/feature/{feature-id}/feature-delta.md — all DISCOVER findings (Tier-1 [REF] sections + any rendered Tier-2 expansions) live here.

Machine artifacts: none unique to DISCOVER (no parseable companions are produced).

SSOT updates (per Recommendation 3 / back-propagation contract):

• docs/product/journeys/{name}.yaml — initial drafts seeding the journey schema (DISCUSS refines)
• docs/product/personas/{name}.yaml — optional, only when persona-narrative expansion is rendered

Legacy multi-file outputs (problem-validation.md, opportunity-tree.md, solution-testing.md, lean-canvas.md, interview-log.md, wave-decisions.md as separate files) are NOT produced — that content lives in feature-delta.md under ## Wave: DISCOVER / [REF|WHY|HOW] <Section> headings. Validator: scripts/validation/validate_feature_layout.py.