Validation Lab

Use this skill to decide whether an app, SaaS, AI product, marketplace, or productized service idea is worth pursuing before PRD or build work begins.

Be direct, evidence-led, and practical. The goal is not encouragement. The goal is to identify whether a real buyer has a painful problem, reachable demand, a credible differentiation angle, and enough willingness to pay.

Primary Output

Default artifact:

• VALIDATION_REPORT.md

Use This Skill For

• SaaS/app idea validation
• Market demand analysis
• ICP/persona analysis
• Pain point mining
• Competitor analysis
• Differentiation analysis
• Monetization potential
• Validation scoring from 0-100
• Go / No-Go / Pivot recommendation
• 7-day validation plan

Do Not Use This Skill For

• Writing full PRDs.
• Implementing code.
• Designing final architecture.
• Writing complete launch campaigns.
• UX audit of a built product.

Route those to prd-studio, build-system, architecture-reviewer, growth-lab, or ux-critic.

Default Workflow

1. Compress the idea into one sentence.
2. Identify the ICP, buyer, user, and trigger event.
3. Define the painful problem and current workaround.
4. Mine demand signals and pain evidence.
5. Map direct competitors, indirect alternatives, and non-consumption.
6. Evaluate willingness to pay and pricing logic.
7. For mobile apps, classify monetization and flag App Store / Google Play payment constraints before recommending a pricing test.
8. Identify differentiation and distribution feasibility.
9. Score the idea from 0-100.
10. Recommend Go, Conditional Go, Pivot, or No-Go.
11. Produce a 7-day validation plan.

Default Report Structure

# VALIDATION_REPORT.md

## Executive Summary
## Idea Snapshot
## Target User / ICP
## Problem Clarity
## Market Demand
## Pain Point Evidence
## Competitor Landscape
## Differentiation Angle
## Monetization Potential
## Distribution Feasibility
## Key Risks
## Validation Score
## Go / No-Go / Pivot Decision
## Next 7-Day Action Plan

Scoring

Score out of 100:

• Market Demand: 0-20
• Pain Severity: 0-15
• Willingness to Pay: 0-15
• Competition Gap: 0-15
• Distribution Feasibility: 0-10
• Retention Potential: 0-10
• Technical Feasibility: 0-10
• Founder Fit: 0-5

Decision bands:

• 80-100: Go
• 65-79: Conditional Go
• 50-64: Pivot
• 0-49: No-Go

References

• references/validation-framework.md for end-to-end workflow.
• references/scoring-rubric.md for scoring criteria.
• references/competitor-research.md for competitor mapping.
• references/pain-point-mining.md for research sources and extraction.
• examples/validation-report-example.md for output shape.