Step 3: Success Criteria Definition

Progress: Step 3 of 11 - Next: User Journey Mapping

MANDATORY EXECUTION RULES (READ FIRST):

• 🛑 NEVER generate content without user input

• 📖 CRITICAL: ALWAYS read the complete step file before taking any action - partial understanding leads to incomplete decisions

• 🔄 CRITICAL: When loading next step with 'C', ensure the entire file is read and understood before proceeding

• ✅ ALWAYS treat this as collaborative discovery between PM peers

• 📋 YOU ARE A FACILITATOR, not a content generator

• 💬 FOCUS on defining what winning looks like for this product

• 🎯 COLLABORATIVE discovery, not assumption-based goal setting

• ✅ YOU MUST ALWAYS SPEAK OUTPUT In your Agent communication style with the config {communication_language}

• ✅ YOU MUST ALWAYS WRITE all artifact and document content in {document_output_language}

EXECUTION PROTOCOLS:

• 🎯 Show your analysis before taking any action
• ⚠️ Present A/P/C menu after generating success criteria content
• 💾 ONLY save when user chooses C (Continue)
• 📖 Update output file frontmatter, adding this step name to the end of the list of stepsCompleted
• 🚫 FORBIDDEN to load next step until C is selected

CONTEXT BOUNDARIES:

• Current document and frontmatter from previous steps are available
• Executive Summary and Project Classification already exist in document
• Input documents from step-01 are available (product briefs, research, brainstorming)
• No additional data files needed for this step
• Focus on measurable, specific success criteria
• LEVERAGE existing input documents to inform success criteria

YOUR TASK:

Define comprehensive success criteria that cover user success, business success, and technical success, using input documents as a foundation while allowing user refinement.

SUCCESS DISCOVERY SEQUENCE:

1. Begin Success Definition Conversation

Check Input Documents for Success Indicators: Analyze product brief, research, and brainstorming documents for success criteria already mentioned.

If Input Documents Contain Success Criteria: Guide user to refine existing success criteria:

• Acknowledge what's already documented in their materials
• Extract key success themes from brief, research, and brainstorming
• Help user identify gaps and areas for expansion
• Probe for specific, measurable outcomes: When do users feel delighted/relieved/empowered?
• Ask about emotional success moments and completion scenarios
• Explore what "worth it" means beyond what's already captured

If No Success Criteria in Input Documents: Start with user-centered success exploration:

• Guide conversation toward defining what "worth it" means for users
• Ask about the moment users realize their problem is solved
• Explore specific user outcomes and emotional states
• Identify success "aha!" moments and completion scenarios
• Focus on user experience of success first

2. Explore User Success Metrics

Listen for specific user outcomes and help make them measurable:

• Guide from vague to specific: NOT "users are happy" → "users complete [key action] within [timeframe]"
• Ask about emotional success: "When do they feel delighted/relieved/empowered?"
• Identify success moments: "What's the 'aha!' moment?"
• Define completion scenarios: "What does 'done' look like for the user?"

3. Define Business Success

Transition to business metrics:

• Guide conversation to business perspective on success
• Explore timelines: What does 3-month success look like? 12-month success?
• Identify key business metrics: revenue, user growth, engagement, or other measures?
• Ask what specific metric would indicate "this is working"
• Understand business success from their perspective

4. Challenge Vague Metrics

Push for specificity on business metrics:

• "10,000 users" → "What kind of users? Doing what?"
• "99.9% uptime" → "What's the real concern - data loss? Failed payments?"
• "Fast" → "How fast, and what specifically needs to be fast?"
• "Good adoption" → "What percentage adoption by when?"

5. Connect to Product Differentiator

Tie success metrics back to what makes the product special:

• Connect success criteria to the product's unique differentiator
• Ensure metrics reflect the specific value proposition
• Adapt success criteria to domain context:
  • Consumer: User love, engagement, retention
  • B2B: ROI, efficiency, adoption
  • Developer tools: Developer experience, community
  • Regulated: Compliance, safety, validation
  • GovTech: Government compliance, accessibility, procurement

6. Smart Scope Negotiation

Guide scope definition through success lens:

• Help user distinguish MVP (must work to be useful) from growth (competitive) and vision (dream)
• Guide conversation through three scope levels:
  1. MVP: What's essential for proving the concept?
  2. Growth: What makes it competitive?
  3. Vision: What's the dream version?
• Challenge scope creep conversationally: Could this wait until after launch? Is this essential for MVP?
• For complex domains: Ensure compliance minimums are included in MVP

7. Generate Success Criteria Content

Prepare the content to append to the document:

Content Structure:

When saving to document, append these Level 2 and Level 3 sections:

## Success Criteria

### User Success

[Content about user success criteria based on conversation]

### Business Success

[Content about business success metrics based on conversation]

### Technical Success

[Content about technical success requirements based on conversation]

### Measurable Outcomes

[Content about specific measurable outcomes based on conversation]

## Product Scope

### MVP - Minimum Viable Product

[Content about MVP scope based on conversation]

### Growth Features (Post-MVP)

[Content about growth features based on conversation]

### Vision (Future)

[Content about future vision based on conversation]

8. Present MENU OPTIONS

Present the success criteria content for user review, then display menu:

• Show the drafted success criteria and scope definition (using structure from section 7)
• Ask if they'd like to refine further, get other perspectives, or proceed
• Present menu options naturally as part of the conversation

Display: "Select: [A] Advanced Elicitation [P] Party Mode [C] Continue to User Journey Mapping (Step 4 of 11)"

Menu Handling Logic:

• IF A: Invoke the bmad-advanced-elicitation skill with the current success criteria content, process the enhanced success metrics that come back, ask user "Accept these improvements to the success criteria? (y/n)", if yes update content with improvements then redisplay menu, if no keep original content then redisplay menu
• IF P: Invoke the bmad-party-mode skill with the current success criteria, process the collaborative improvements to metrics and scope, ask user "Accept these changes to the success criteria? (y/n)", if yes update content with improvements then redisplay menu, if no keep original content then redisplay menu
• IF C: Append the final content to {outputFile}, update frontmatter by adding this step name to the end of the stepsCompleted array, then read fully and follow: ./step-04-journeys.md
• IF Any other: help user respond, then redisplay menu

EXECUTION RULES:

• ALWAYS halt and wait for user input after presenting menu
• ONLY proceed to next step when user selects 'C'
• After other menu items execution, return to this menu

APPEND TO DOCUMENT:

When user selects 'C', append the content directly to the document using the structure from step 7.

SUCCESS METRICS:

✅ User success criteria clearly identified and made measurable ✅ Business success metrics defined with specific targets ✅ Success criteria connected to product differentiator ✅ Scope properly negotiated (MVP, Growth, Vision) ✅ A/P/C menu presented and handled correctly ✅ Content properly appended to document when C selected

FAILURE MODES:

❌ Accepting vague success metrics without pushing for specificity ❌ Not connecting success criteria back to product differentiator ❌ Missing scope negotiation and leaving it undefined ❌ Generating content without real user input on what success looks like ❌ Not presenting A/P/C menu after content generation ❌ Appending content without user selecting 'C'

❌ CRITICAL: Reading only partial step file - leads to incomplete understanding and poor decisions ❌ CRITICAL: Proceeding with 'C' without fully reading and understanding the next step file ❌ CRITICAL: Making decisions without complete understanding of step requirements and protocols

DOMAIN CONSIDERATIONS:

If working in regulated domains (healthcare, fintech, govtech):

• Include compliance milestones in success criteria
• Add regulatory approval timelines to MVP scope
• Consider audit requirements as technical success metrics

NEXT STEP:

After user selects 'C' and content is saved to document, load ./step-04-journeys.md to map user journeys.

Remember: Do NOT proceed to step-04 until user explicitly selects 'C' from the A/P/C menu and content is saved!