{"id":"pm-clarifying-questions-before-scoping","audience":"product-managers","category":"planning","track":"productivity","technique":"context","title":"Ask the right questions before scoping a vague request","free":false,"task":"Sales sent a vague request, and you want to clarify it before scoping. Write exactly 4 numbered questions back to the sales rep, each about one of the unknowns in your notes, each under 20 words, plain text. Don't propose solutions or estimates in the questions, and don't ask about anything the request already answers.","materialLabel":"The request and your notes (attached to your prompt automatically)","material":"From: Marco (Account Exec), Slack\n\"Brightwater needs 'better reporting' or they won't renew in June. They have 40 users on Business plan. Can we build something? They said the current dashboard is 'useless'.\"\n\nMy notes (PM):\nAlready known from the request: account is Brightwater, renewal in June, 40 users, Business plan.\n\nUnknowns I need answered before scoping:\n- Who at Brightwater is asking (role), and who would use the reports.\n- What decision or question they're trying to answer with reports.\n- What specifically is \"useless\" about the current dashboard (missing data? too slow? can't export?).\n- How they get this information today (spreadsheet? another tool?).\n\nDon't do: suggest a custom dashboard, give dates or estimates, or ask about plan/users/renewal (already known).\nMarco is busy; he'll forward my questions to the customer.","rules":[{"type":"numberedItems","count":4},{"type":"maxWords","max":90},{"type":"plainText"}],"mistakes":[{"title":"Asking for 'questions to ask'","why":"The AI writes 10+ discovery questions in sections.","fix":"Be exact: \"Exactly 4 numbered questions, one per unknown. Plain text.\"","checks":["numberedItems","plainText"]},{"title":"Trusting the AI to count words","why":"AI is bad at counting. Ask for a total word limit and it often lands over it.","fix":"Cap each question instead: \"each question under 18 words.\"","checks":["maxWords"]},{"title":"Generic questions","why":"Without your list of unknowns, the AI asks broad questions about everything.","fix":"Add: \"One question each: who's asking, what decision, what's useless, how they do it today.\"","checks":["r0","r2"]},{"title":"Solutioning in questions","why":"AI tends to ask 'Would a custom dashboard work?', which commits you early.","fix":"Add: \"No solutions, estimates or dates in the questions.\"","checks":["r1"]}],"promptHints":[{"label":"Targets the unknowns","patterns":["unknown","who'?s asking","what decision","today"]},{"label":"Bans solutions","patterns":["no solution","don'?t (propose|suggest)","estimate"]},{"label":"Skips what's known","patterns":["already (known|answered)","don'?t ask about","plan","renewal"]},{"label":"Sets the number of questions","patterns":["\\b(4|four)\\b.{0,15}question"]},{"label":"Sets a word limit","patterns":["\\d+\\s*words","word (limit|count)"]}],"hint":"Good clarifying questions target exactly what you don't know. Give the AI your unknowns, and tell it not to solve or re-ask.","rubricLabels":["The 4 questions cover: who is asking and who would use the reports; what decision or question the reports should answer; what specifically is useless about the current dashboard; how they get this information today","No question proposes a solution or gives an estimate or date (no 'would a custom dashboard help', no timelines)","No question asks about things already known (plan, number of users, renewal date), and there is no intro or closing beyond at most one short line"]}