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Agent skill

User-Centered Problem Statement

by deanpeters in deanpeters/Product-Manager-Skills

Writes a problem statement from the user's point of view, covering who is blocked, what they're trying to do, and how it feels.

Custom licenceAuto-check passedProduct & Project Management

Install User-Centered Problem Statement

skills CLI
$ npx skills add deanpeters/Product-Manager-Skills --skill problem-statement -a claude-code

Project install by default; add -g for ~/.claude/skills/.

GitHub CLI
$ gh skill install deanpeters/Product-Manager-Skills problem-statement --agent claude-code

Project scope by default; add --scope user for a personal install. Needs GitHub CLI 2.90.0 or later (public preview).

Manual copy
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/deanpeters/Product-Manager-Skills.git skills-src && mkdir -p .claude/skills && cp -r skills-src/skills/problem-statement .claude/skills/problem-statement && rm -rf skills-src

Use ~/.claude/skills/ instead of .claude/skills for a personal install. The folder must contain SKILL.md.

Claude Code skills documentation · loads skills from .claude/skills/

Facts

Skill name
problem-statement
GitHub stars
7.2k
Used in
1 other repo
Token cost
~2.7k tokens
SKILL.md length
1,090 words
Files
4
Skills in repo
75
Repo updated
First seen
Licence
Custom licence

At a glance

Writes a problem statement from the user's point of view, covering who is blocked, what they're trying to do, and how it feels.

  • Works in 5 steps: Gather User Context → Draft the Problem Framing Narrative → Document Context & Constraints → …
  • Framing a problem before writing a PRD or starting discovery
  • SKILL.md covers Purpose, Input, Key Concepts and Application, plus 3 more sections
  • Reaches github.com

What it does

Five slots built on Jobs-to-be-Done and empathy mapping structure the narrative: who the persona is, what they're trying to accomplish, what's blocking them, the root cause behind that barrier, and the emotional impact it has, followed by context and constraints and a single concise final statement. A problem framed as 'we lack AI-powered analytics' is flagged as a solution in disguise, and 'revenue is down' as a business symptom rather than a user problem, since the exercise anchors product work in outcomes, not feature requests.

When your agent uses it

  • Framing a problem before writing a PRD or starting discovery
  • Aligning stakeholders on the user's actual struggle, not a feature idea
  • Checking whether a stated problem is secretly a solution in disguise

Example prompts

  • “Problem statement: clinic schedulers double-book rooms because the calendar hides equipment.”
  • “Is 'we need better analytics' a real problem statement or a solution?”
  • “Write a problem statement for why support tickets spike on Mondays.”

Workflow steps

5 steps, taken from the step headings in SKILL.md.

  1. Gather User Context
  2. Draft the Problem Framing Narrative
  3. Document Context & Constraints
  4. Craft the Final Problem Statement
  5. Validate and Socialize

What it can do on your machine

Read from SKILL.md and the folder at commit 1b5a524. It shows what the files ask for, not the result of running them.

  • Tool permissions

    Pre-approves nothing: there is no allowed-tools line, so your agent's usual permission prompts apply.

    From allowed-tools in the SKILL.md frontmatter.

  • Runs code

    No scripts in the folder and no shell commands in SKILL.md (its code samples are markdown).

    From the folder's file list and the shell code blocks in SKILL.md.

  • Network

    Hosts in commands or code, which the agent is likely to contact:

    • github.com

    From URLs in SKILL.md, links to its own repository left out.

  • Credentials

    Names no API keys, tokens, secrets or passwords.

    From names ending in _API_KEY, _TOKEN, _SECRET, _KEY or _PASSWORD in SKILL.md.

Context cost

User-Centered Problem Statement loads about 2.7k tokens when it runs. Until then it costs about 49 tokens; SKILL.md has 1,090 words of instructions outside code blocks.

Always · name and description, kept in context so the agent knows when to use it
~49
When it runs · the whole SKILL.md, loaded when a task matches
~2.7k

Estimates: characters ÷ 4, the usual rule of thumb; real counts depend on the model's tokenizer. Scripts and assets cost tokens only if the agent reads them.

Safety

Auto-check passed

The automated check found no risky patterns in SKILL.md.

Automated static check — not a guarantee. Review scripts before installing. It scans the text of SKILL.md for risky patterns (piping downloads into a shell, reading credential files, hidden Unicode, destructive commands); files beside SKILL.md are not scanned.

SKILL.md

Its licence (Custom licence) doesn't allow us to republish the file, so here is its outline and opening line. It has 1,090 words (~2,732 tokens).

“Articulate a problem from the user's perspective using an empathy-driven framework that captures who they are, what they're trying to do, what's blocking them, why, and how it makes them feel. Use this to align stakeholders on the problem before…”

— opening of SKILL.md by deanpeters, Custom licence
name
problem-statement
argument-hint
[user and their struggle]
intent
Articulate a problem from the user's perspective using an empathy-driven framework that captures who they are, what they're trying to do, what's blocking…
type
component
theme
discovery-research
best_for
Framing a problem before anyone proposes a solution, Getting a team to agree on who is blocked and why it matters, Turning a vague complaint into something a…
scenarios
The team keeps jumping to solutions and we've never written down the actual problem, I need a crisp problem statement for a PRD that a skeptical exec will read
estimated_time
10-20 min

Read the full SKILL.md on GitHub

Files

SKILL.md and 3 other files in skills/problem-statement of deanpeters/Product-Manager-Skills.

  • SKILL.md
  • examples/sample-industrial.md
  • examples/sample.md
  • template.md

Open the folder on GitHubat commit 1b5a524

Used in 1 other repository

We found 1 copy of this SKILL.md (exact, near-identical or edited) in other folders, from 1 other GitHub owner. This page covers the copy in deanpeters/Product-Manager-Skills, which our catalogue first saw on October 7, 2026.

Compare with similar skills

User-Centered Problem Statement next to the 5 skills that share the most tags, products or categories with it. Stars are the repository's; “used in” counts other GitHub owners with a copy.

User-Centered Problem Statement compared with similar skills
SkillStarsUsed inTokensAuto-checkLicenceRepo updated
User-Centered Problem Statement this skilldeanpeters/Product-Manager-Skills7.2k1 repos~2.7kAutomated safety check: PassCustom licence
CCPM Project Managementautomazeio/ccpm8.4k—~1.1kAutomated safety check: PassMIT
Ralph Tui Create Beadssubsy/ralph-tui2.5k1 repos~2.6kAutomated safety check: PassMIT
Trellis Brainstormanjiemo/SunnyBeach1787 repos~4kAutomated safety check: PassApache-2.0
Adversarial Speczscole/adversarial-spec5561 repos~8.3kAutomated safety check: NotesMIT
Ralph Tui Create Beads Rustsubsy/ralph-tui2.5k1 repos~2.8kAutomated safety check: PassMIT

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Categories

Questions about User-Centered Problem Statement

What does User-Centered Problem Statement do?

Writes a problem statement from the user's point of view, covering who is blocked, what they're trying to do, and how it feels. Five slots built on Jobs-to-be-Done and empathy mapping structure the narrative: who the persona is, what they're trying to accomplish, what's blocking them, the root cause behind that barrier, and the emotional impact it has, followed by context and constraints and a single concise final statement. A problem framed as 'we lack AI-powered analytics' is flagged as a solution in disguise, and 'revenue is down' as a business symptom rather than a user problem, since the exercise anchors product work in outcomes, not feature requests.

When should I use User-Centered Problem Statement?

User-Centered Problem Statement fits situations like: framing a problem before writing a PRD or starting discovery; aligning stakeholders on the user's actual struggle, not a feature idea; checking whether a stated problem is secretly a solution in disguise.

How do I install User-Centered Problem Statement in Claude Code?

Run `npx skills add deanpeters/Product-Manager-Skills --skill problem-statement -a claude-code`. Or copy the skill folder (skills/problem-statement in deanpeters/Product-Manager-Skills) into .claude/skills/problem-statement in your project. Claude Code loads it when a task matches its description.

How do I install User-Centered Problem Statement in Codex?

Run `npx skills add deanpeters/Product-Manager-Skills --skill problem-statement -a codex`. Or copy the skill folder (skills/problem-statement in deanpeters/Product-Manager-Skills) into .agents/skills/problem-statement in your project. Codex loads it when a task matches its description.

Can I use User-Centered Problem Statement in Cursor, Gemini CLI or GitHub Copilot?

Cursor, Gemini CLI, GitHub Copilot and OpenCode also load SKILL.md folders. With the skills CLI, run `npx skills add deanpeters/Product-Manager-Skills --skill problem-statement -a cursor` (or -a gemini-cli, github-copilot or opencode for the others). To copy it by hand, put the folder in .cursor/skills/problem-statement, .gemini/skills/problem-statement, .github/skills/problem-statement and .opencode/skills/problem-statement in your project.

What does User-Centered Problem Statement need to run?

SKILL.md names no scripts, command-line tools or credentials: User-Centered Problem Statement is instructions for the agent only.

Does User-Centered Problem Statement access the network?

SKILL.md names 1 domain. In commands or code: github.com; the agent is likely to contact it when it follows the instructions. This is read from the text; nothing was executed.

Is User-Centered Problem Statement safe to install?

Our automated static check of SKILL.md found no risky patterns, such as piping downloads into a shell, reading credential files or hidden Unicode. It is not a guarantee. Review the folder before installing.

What licence does User-Centered Problem Statement use?

User-Centered Problem Statement has a licence file (the repository's licence) that doesn't match a standard licence. Read it on GitHub before reusing the skill.

How many tokens does User-Centered Problem Statement use?

About 2.7k tokens (SKILL.md is roughly 11k characters). Agents keep only the skill's name and description in context until a task matches; then they load SKILL.md in full.

What are the alternatives to User-Centered Problem Statement?

Skills that share tags, products or a category with User-Centered Problem Statement: CCPM Project Management (automazeio/ccpm, 8.4k stars), Ralph Tui Create Beads (subsy/ralph-tui, 2.5k stars), Trellis Brainstorm (anjiemo/SunnyBeach, 178 stars) and Adversarial Spec (zscole/adversarial-spec, 556 stars). The comparison table on this page puts their stars, adoption, token cost, safety result and licence side by side.

Who maintains User-Centered Problem Statement?

deanpeters (a GitHub user) maintains it in deanpeters/Product-Manager-Skills, which has 7,181 GitHub stars. The repository holds 75 skills in this directory. The repository was last updated on September 1, 2026.

Source: deanpeters/Product-Manager-Skills on GitHub. Facts on this page come from the repository at the commit we read; the author's words are quoted as theirs.