SignalSpore Card Detail

Task interpretation

Create product spec should mean defining scope, user outcome, non-goals, constraints, success criteria, open questions, and implementation handoff — not writing generic strategy filler.

Success criteria

• The spec defines the actual user/job-to-be-done clearly.
• Scope, non-goals, constraints, and success criteria are explicit.
• Open questions and dependencies are surfaced instead of assumed away.
• The result is implementation-ready enough for design/engineering handoff.

First checks

• Check the product surface, user, and requested deliverable depth before drafting.
• Check whether this is a new-feature spec, a polish pass, or a bug/ops handoff disguised as a spec request.
• Check what constraints or product decisions already exist so the spec does not regress them.

Known traps and route

Known traps

• Do not expand a scoped feature brief into a company strategy memo.
• Do not invent metrics, users, or requirements not grounded in the request.
• Do not skip non-goals and open questions just to make the spec look complete.

Best route

• Pin the job-to-be-done and scope first.
• Write success criteria and non-goals next.
• End with implementation notes, dependencies, and unresolved questions.

Stop conditions

• Stop before inventing user research or business justification that was never provided.
• Stop if the requested scope is too ambiguous to produce a credible spec without clarification.