Does pm-product-discovery Include Competitive Analysis Techniques?

No, the pm-product-discovery module does not include competitive analysis techniques. According to the phuryn/pm-skills source code, pm-product-discovery focuses exclusively on early-stage discovery activities such as interview summarization and assumption testing, while competitive analysis capabilities reside in the separate pm-market-research module.

The phuryn/pm-skills repository organizes product management capabilities into distinct modules to maintain clear separation of concerns. When evaluating whether pm-product-discovery includes techniques for competitive analysis, examining the actual source file structure reveals a strict boundary between user research activities and market intelligence work.

What pm-product-discovery Actually Covers

The pm-product-discovery module contains skills centered on understanding user needs and prioritizing solutions before entering the market analysis phase. According to the source code in phuryn/pm-skills, this module includes three primary skills:

• summarize-interview (pm-product-discovery/skills/summarize-interview/SKILL.md): Processes interview transcripts to extract Jobs-to-be-Done (JTBD) insights, satisfaction metrics, and actionable items.
• prioritize-features (pm-product-discovery/skills/prioritize-features/SKILL.md): Provides frameworks for ranking feature candidates based on user impact and strategic alignment.
• prioritize-assumptions (pm-product-discovery/skills/prioritize-assumptions/SKILL.md): Offers workflows for testing and validating product assumptions before committing resources.

These capabilities focus on internal discovery—understanding user pain points and solution opportunities—rather than evaluating external market competitors.

Where Competitive Analysis Actually Lives

Competitive analysis techniques are explicitly scoped to the pm-market-research module. The dedicated competitor-analysis skill resides at pm-market-research/skills/competitor-analysis/SKILL.md and implements a comprehensive competitor intelligence workflow.

This skill includes:

• Market scoping and competitor identification
• SWOT analysis frameworks
• Differentiation opportunity mapping
• Positioning analysis against rival solutions

The command wrapper for this functionality is located at pm-market-research/commands/competitive-analysis.md, confirming that competitive analysis is treated as a market research function distinct from product discovery activities.

Practical Workflow: Combining Discovery and Competitive Analysis

While pm-product-discovery does not include competitive analysis, you can execute both modules sequentially using the pm-toolkit CLI interface. The repository ships each skill as a Markdown-based command that can be invoked from the command line or via AI assistant interfaces.

Run a product discovery skill to summarize user interviews:

pm-toolkit run summarize-interview --args "My New App"

This reads a transcript and produces a JTBD-focused summary according to the skill definition in pm-product-discovery/skills/summarize-interview/SKILL.md.

Execute the competitive analysis skill:

pm-toolkit run competitor-analysis --args "My New App"

This runs the step-by-step competitive research process defined in pm-market-research/skills/competitor-analysis/SKILL.md.

Chain both commands to move from discovery to market analysis:

pm-toolkit run summarize-interview --args "My New App" && \
pm-toolkit run competitor-analysis --args "My New App"

This workflow first captures user needs, then evaluates how existing competitors address or miss those opportunities.

Key Source Files and Locations

The phuryn/pm-skills repository structures these capabilities in clearly separated directories:

Product Discovery Files:

• pm-product-discovery/skills/summarize-interview/SKILL.md – Interview summary template with JTBD framework
• pm-product-discovery/skills/prioritize-features/SKILL.md – Feature prioritization framework
• pm-product-discovery/skills/prioritize-assumptions/SKILL.md – Assumption testing workflow

Competitive Analysis Files:

• pm-market-research/skills/competitor-analysis/SKILL.md – Full competitive research process including SWOT and differentiation mapping
• pm-market-research/commands/competitive-analysis.md – CLI command wrapper for the competitor analysis skill

Documentation:

• README.md – Overview of the pm-skills suite and module relationships

Summary

• pm-product-discovery focuses on early-stage user research including interview analysis, feature prioritization, and assumption testing, but does not include competitive analysis techniques.
• Competitive analysis resides in pm-market-research under the competitor-analysis skill, which provides comprehensive market intelligence capabilities.
• Both modules can be invoked via the pm-toolkit CLI using commands like pm-toolkit run summarize-interview and pm-toolkit run competitor-analysis.
• The repository maintains strict separation between understanding user needs (discovery) and evaluating market positioning (competitive analysis).

Frequently Asked Questions

Does pm-product-discovery include any market research capabilities?

No, pm-product-discovery is strictly limited to early-stage product discovery activities. According to the source code at phuryn/pm-skills, the module handles interview summarization, feature prioritization, and assumption testing only. All market research capabilities, including competitive analysis, are housed in the pm-market-research module.

What is the difference between pm-product-discovery and pm-market-research?

pm-product-discovery focuses on internal user research—understanding customer pain points, validating assumptions, and prioritizing solutions before building. pm-market-research handles external market intelligence—analyzing competitors, mapping market positioning, and identifying differentiation opportunities. The repository structure enforces this separation to maintain clear workflow boundaries.

How do I run a competitive analysis using the pm-skills toolkit?

Invoke the competitor-analysis command from the pm-market-research module using the CLI: pm-toolkit run competitor-analysis --args "Your Product Name". This executes the workflow defined in pm-market-research/skills/competitor-analysis/SKILL.md, which includes competitor identification, SWOT analysis, and differentiation mapping.

Can I use insights from pm-product-discovery to inform competitive analysis?

Yes, you can chain the commands to create a complete workflow. First run pm-toolkit run summarize-interview to extract user needs and JTBD insights, then run pm-toolkit run competitor-analysis to evaluate how competitors address those specific needs. This combination allows you to identify gaps where competitors fail to satisfy the user pain points discovered during product discovery.

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