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Proof of Life Probe

Skill Verified Active
Part of:Pol Probe

Define a Proof of Life probe to test a risky hypothesis cheaply. Use when you need harsh truth before building real product.

Purpose

To help users define and document lightweight, disposable validation experiments (PoL probes) that surface harsh truths about hypotheses and risks cheaply, enabling better decision-making before committing to costly development.

Features

  • Define Proof of Life (PoL) probes
  • Test narrow hypotheses and specific risks
  • Guide creation of disposable validation artifacts
  • Prevent prototype theater and sunk-cost fallacy
  • Provide a structured template for probe documentation

Use Cases

  • Testing a specific technical feasibility before building
  • Validating a critical user workflow without shipping code
  • Getting stakeholder buy-in for an idea via a narrative prototype
  • De-risking product decisions by surfacing harsh truths quickly

Non-Goals

  • Building production-quality software
  • Creating MVPs or pilots
  • Impressing stakeholders with polished demos (prototype theater)
  • Running broad experiments that yield ambiguous results

Workflow

  1. Define Hypothesis and Risk
  2. Select Prototype Type
  3. Document Target Users, Success Criteria, Tools, and Timeline
  4. Create the PoL Probe artifact
  5. Execute testing and analyze results
  6. Document learnings and dispose of the probe

Practices

  • Validation Frameworks
  • Hypothesis Testing
  • Lean Product Development

Prerequisites

  • Basic understanding of product management concepts
  • Ability to define a clear hypothesis and risk

Installation

First, add the marketplace

/plugin marketplace add deanpeters/Product-Manager-Skills
/plugin install pol-probe@pm-skills

Quality Score

Verified
98 /100
Analyzed about 20 hours ago

Trust Signals

Last commit16 days ago
Stars4.2k
LicenseNOASSERTION
Status
View Source

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