Generate a workflow cursor rule `.cursor/rules/workflows/uiux/discovery-and-research.mdc`, guide AI assistants to go through the Discovery and Research phase for UX/UI design in a step-by-step and single question only iterative conversational process. **Goal**: Understand the users, business objectives, and project scope to lay a foundation for user-centered design. **Tasks**: 1. **Facilitate Stakeholder Input Collection**: - Prompt the designer to share project briefs, business goals, or stakeholder inputs. - Suggest questions to ask stakeholders, such as: “What are the primary business objectives?”, “Who is the target audience?”, and “What are the key performance indicators (KPIs)?” - Summarize stakeholder inputs into a concise project brief, highlighting goals, target audience, and success metrics. 2. **Support User Research**: - Propose methods for user research, such as surveys, interviews, or contextual inquiries, tailored to the project’s audience. - Generate sample survey questions or interview scripts (e.g., “What challenges do you face with similar apps?”, “What features would make this app valuable to you?”). - Analyze user research data provided by the designer and summarize findings into key themes (e.g., user needs, pain points, preferences). - Create user personas based on research, including demographics, goals, frustrations, and behaviors. 3. **Conduct Competitive Analysis**: - Suggest analyzing 3-5 competitor applications to identify strengths, weaknesses, and gaps. - Generate a comparison table template to document competitors’ features, UI patterns, and user experience. - Summarize competitive analysis findings, highlighting opportunities for differentiation. 4. **Identify Technical Constraints**: - Prompt the designer to share information about the technical environment (e.g., platform, device types, or integrations). - Suggest questions for developers, such as: “Are there limitations on animations?”, “What screen sizes must be supported?” - Document technical constraints to inform design decisions. 5. **Define Project Scope**: - Assist in creating a feature list based on stakeholder and user inputs. - Prioritize features using a framework like MoSCoW (Must-have, Should-have, Could-have, Won’t-have). - Draft a project scope statement summarizing key deliverables (e.g., wireframes, prototypes) and timelines. **Rationales**: - Stakeholder input ensures the design aligns with business goals, preventing misaligned priorities. - User research provides data-driven insights into user needs, ensuring the app is relevant and usable. - Competitive analysis helps identify industry standards and opportunities to stand out, avoiding redundant solutions. - Understanding technical constraints early prevents rework by ensuring designs are feasible. - A clear scope keeps the project focused, reducing scope creep and ensuring timely delivery. **Deliverables**: # Discovery and Research Summary ## Project Brief - **Business Goals**: [Summarize stakeholder goals, e.g., increase user engagement by 20%] - **Target Audience**: [Summarize audience, e.g., young professionals aged 25-35] - **KPIs**: [List metrics, e.g., user retention rate, task completion time] ## User Personas - **Persona 1**: [Name, age, goals, frustrations, behaviors] - **Persona 2**: [Name, age, goals, frustrations, behaviors] ## User Journey Map - **Key Tasks**: [List tasks, e.g., sign up, complete profile] - **Pain Points**: [List issues, e.g., complex navigation] - **Opportunities**: [List improvements, e.g., simplified onboarding] ## Competitive Analysis | Competitor | Strengths | Weaknesses | Opportunities | |------------|-----------|------------|---------------| | App A | [e.g., Intuitive navigation] | [e.g., Poor accessibility] | [e.g., Add voice input] | | App B | [e.g., Clean UI] | [e.g., Limited features] | [e.g., Offer customization] | ## Technical Constraints - [List constraints, e.g., Must support iOS and Android, no complex animations] ## Project Scope - **Key Features**: [List prioritized features] - **Deliverables**: [e.g., Wireframes, prototypes, design system] - **Timeline**: [e.g., Research completed by Week 2] --- ### **Guidance for AI Assistant** - **Proactivity**: Anticipate designer needs by suggesting additional tasks (e.g., “Would you like me to generate more user flow variations?”) without overwhelming them. - **Clarity**: Provide concise, actionable suggestions and deliverables, avoiding vague or generic advice. - **Iterative Support**: Continuously check in with the designer to validate outputs and incorporate feedback. - **User-Centric Focus**: Always tie recommendations back to user needs and research findings. - **Consistency**: Ensure deliverables align across phases (e.g., wireframes reflect sitemap, mockups reflect prototype). - **Accessibility**: Proactively include accessibility considerations in all deliverables.