review
Stage 1 scope approval
customer-discovery
This page is a pre-research approval artifact. It proposes the customer-discovery scope, source plan, assumptions, paths, and gates for FormForge before any new ICP candidates, rankings, synthesized findings, framework plan, working packet, or canonical research file is created.
Alignment date: 2026-06-15
Alignment status: review
Scope mode: flat research/ single-product mode. No active research/.progress.yaml product path was found in Stage 1 discovery.
Research boundary: no web research, ICP candidate generation, ranking, framework execution, or canonical artifact writing has been performed for this customer-discovery stage.
These are source-availability observations, not customer-discovery findings.
research/concept-brief.md and research/concept-brief-interview.md define a fresh-start FormForge concept: describe a form, review generated fields, edit visually, publish a link, receive submissions, and review or export responses.
package.json and src/ show a substantial Next.js app surface with AI generation, editor, public rendering, submission, responses, billing, auth, and tests. This is context, not proof of live customer usage.
tasks/todo.md, tasks/history.md, and desk-flip-report.md document prior build scope, deferred infrastructure, and the fresh-start constraint that old code should inform lessons but not dictate the new product.
research/_working/preliminary-icp-research.md and alignment/icp-formforge.html exist. They are non-canonical prior artifacts and should be explicitly approved, rejected, or treated as only seed context for Stage 2.
Stage 1 found mixed mode signals. The repository contains production-like code, but the active research brief frames this as a fresh-start, prototype-first concept with no real customer feedback file and no approved canonical ICP.
| Signal | Observed Source | Interpretation For Approval |
|---|---|---|
| Production-like app code exists | src/, package.json, README.md | Supports product-exists context, but not necessarily empirical validation. |
| No customer feedback artifact found | No research/customer-feedback.md in Stage 1 file scan | PMF validation should not be the default unless the user provides real user/customer evidence. |
| Fresh-start concept is active | research/concept-brief.md, desk-flip-report.md | Supports pre-product customer discovery around the new validated loop. |
| Prior ICP packet exists but is not canonical | research/_working/preliminary-icp-research.md | Use only if approved as seed evidence; otherwise rerun discovery from the concept brief. |
Proposed Stage 2 operating mode: pre-product customer discovery for the fresh-start FormForge concept, with repo/code context used as product-boundary evidence and the prior ICP packet used only if approved by the gate below.
After scope approval, Stage 2 should perform broad market research before identifying ICP candidates. The minimum search coverage is 8 web queries; the proposed plan uses 12 source categories to reduce segment bias.
Values are planning weights, not findings. They show relative attention in Stage 2.
| Category | Planning Weight | Evidence Role |
|---|---|---|
| Direct persona | 5 | Identify likely form creators and buyers. |
| Pain point | 5 | Find repeated friction in form creation, collection, or handoff. |
| Market segment | 4 | Compare broad segments without selecting prematurely. |
| Competitor users | 5 | Understand who uses adjacent form/intake products. |
| Forums/community | 5 | Capture natural language and switching complaints. |
| Job postings | 3 | Spot operational roles that own intake/data collection. |
| Industry reports | 4 | Ground market sizing and category context. |
| Switching trigger | 5 | Find events that cause adoption or churn. |
| Adjacent market | 4 | Compare intake, survey, workflow, and no-code edges. |
| Business model | 4 | Classify PLG, B2B SaaS, prosumer, or other motions. |
| WTP signal | 5 | Separate paid urgency from generic free-form needs. |
| Named account | 3 | Build examples for later discovery targets, not proof. |
| Artifact | Path | Stage | Mutation Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Scope alignment page | alignment/customer-discovery-formforge.html | Stage 1 | Written now for review. |
| Alignment index | alignment/index.html | Stage 1 | Updated to include this review page. |
| Working packet | research/_working/preliminary-customer-discovery-research.md | Stage 2 | Not written until scope approval. |
| Canonical ICP | research/icp.md | Stage 3 | Not written until final artifact approval. |
| Search log | research/icp-search-log.md | Stage 3 | Not written until final artifact approval. |
| Progress manifest | research/.progress.yaml | Stage 3 if needed | Only if approved secondary ICP paths need parking or promotion metadata. |
If scope is approved, Stage 2 will update this same review page with a complete rendered working packet. The Markdown working packet will be supplemental; the primary review surface will be structured HTML.
| Assumption | Confidence | What Would Change It |
|---|---|---|
Flat research/ scope is appropriate. | High | A hidden or new active product-path manifest, or user direction to scope a product path. |
| Fresh-start pre-product discovery is the right Stage 2 mode. | Medium | User provides real customer usage/feedback evidence and asks for validation instead. |
| The prior non-canonical ICP packet can be considered as seed context only if approved. | High | User asks to discard it entirely or to treat it as an approved base. |
The first Stage 2 output should be a customer-discovery working packet, not canonical research/icp.md. | High | Only a final compiled YAML approval can move to canonical artifacts. |
| No downstream routing should be presented before approval. | High | This is fixed by the customer-discovery staged workflow. |
Approve or revise the proposed Stage 2 scope before research begins.
Approve or revise the Stage 2 source mix, including whether the prior non-canonical ICP packet can be used.
Approve the Stage 2 and Stage 3 output paths. Stage 2 writes only the working packet and updates this review page. Canonical files wait for later final approval.
Confirm whether the proposed Stage 2 review format and evidence treatment are sufficient before research starts.
Answer any required gate questions and/or select section feedback, then compile YAML. Stage 2 starts only when the compiled YAML is complete and has approval_status: ready-for-agent-review.