market-research-synthesis

Market Research Synthesis

Use this skill to collect market truth and transform it into original strategy.

Workflow

1. Define the category, buyer/user, product type, geography, and business model.
2. Read references/research-synthesis-method.md.
3. Build a competitor set: leaders, fast followers, niche winners, substitutes, and failed/low-rated products.
4. Extract patterns: promises, pricing, onboarding, UX conventions, distribution, complaints, and support issues.
5. Separate category table stakes from differentiation opportunities.
6. Produce an original synthesis: what to copy as table stakes, what to avoid, what to improve, and what new wedge to own.

Source verification

• Research current primary surfaces at use: official product/pricing pages, stores, changelogs, documentation, and attributable user evidence.
• Record URL, access date, geography, plan/currency, and whether each statement is observed fact, user report, inference, or judgment.
• If browsing or source access is unavailable, produce a research plan and mark market claims unverified instead of filling gaps from memory.

Guardrails

• Do not copy competitor copy, screenshots, or proprietary materials into outputs.
• Do not present scraped reviews or listings as verified facts without source boundaries.
• Do not recommend dark-pattern monetization learned from low-trust competitors.

Output format

Category map:
- Leaders:
- Niche winners:
- Substitutes:

What the market teaches:
- Table stakes:
- Differentiation gaps:
- User complaints:
- Pricing norms:

Original strategy:
- Wedge:
- Product bets:
- Risks:
- Validation plan:

When not to use

• Do not use when the job is only scoring an already-established option set, maintaining a research repository, or summarizing one supplied document.
• Do not use competitor research as permission to copy expression, screenshots, proprietary workflows, or unsupported review anecdotes.