All 10 PM lifecycle domains explained in detail — what they cover, key frameworks, and where to start.
The 10 domains map to the full product lifecycle. Most PM work flows left-to-right through these stages, though in practice you'll jump between them constantly.
┌─────────────┐ ┌──────────────┐ ┌──────────────┐ ┌──────────────┐
│ 🔍 DISCOVER │──▶│ 🎯 STRATEGY │──▶│ 📋 PLANNING │──▶│ 📝 SPECIFY │
│ 11 skills │ │ 12 skills │ │ 12 skills │ │ 10 skills │
└─────────────┘ └──────────────┘ └──────────────┘ └──────┬───────┘
│
▼
┌─────────────┐ ┌──────────────┐ ┌──────────────┐ ┌──────────────┐
│ 📊 ANALYTICS│◀──│ 📈 GROWTH │◀──│ 🚀 LAUNCH │◀──│ ⚙️ EXECUTE │
│ 9 skills │ │ 11 skills │ │ 7 skills │ │ 10 skills │
└─────┬───────┘ └──────────────┘ └──────────────┘ └──────────────┘
│
▼
┌─────────────┐ ┌──────────────┐
│ 🗣️ COMMS │──▶│ 👔 LEADERSHIP│
│ 9 skills │ │ 12 skills │
└─────────────┘ └──────────────┘
What it covers: Understanding the problem space before building anything.
When you need it: Before starting any new initiative, feature, or product. This is where you validate that a real problem exists for a real user.
- 5W1H Problem Frame — Structured problem definition
- Jobs-to-Be-Done (JTBD) — Understanding user motivation through Four Forces of Progress
- Proto-Personas — Hypothesis-driven user profiles with confidence tracking
- Mom Test — Interview techniques that prevent confirmation bias
- Customer Journey Mapping — NNGroup-style emotional arc visualization
- MITRE Problem Framing — Look Inward / Look Outward / Reframe
① problem-statement (Beginner) → Start here: define what's broken
② proto-persona (Beginner) → Define who's affected
③ jobs-to-be-done (Intermediate) → Understand why they care
④ discovery-interview-prep (Intermediate)→ Talk to real users
⑤ customer-journey-map (Intermediate) → Map the full experience
⑥ competitive-battle-card (Intermediate)→ Know the competition
⑦ discovery-process (Advanced) → Run a complete discovery cycle
| Skill | Type | Difficulty |
|---|---|---|
| problem-statement | 🧱 | Beginner |
| proto-persona | 🧱 | Beginner |
| jobs-to-be-done | 🧱 | Intermediate |
| customer-journey-map | 🧱 | Intermediate |
| company-research | 🧱 | Intermediate |
| survey-design | 🧱 | Intermediate |
| competitive-battle-card | 🧱 | Intermediate |
| discovery-interview-prep | 🔄 | Intermediate |
| customer-journey-mapping-workshop | 🔄 | Intermediate |
| problem-framing-canvas | 🔄 | Advanced |
| win-loss-analysis | 🔄 | Advanced |
| discovery-process | 🎭 | Advanced |
What it covers: Setting direction — where you're going, why, and how you'll measure success.
When you need it: Quarterly planning, annual strategy, new product direction, positioning changes, or investor/board prep.
- Geoffrey Moore Positioning — The classic positioning statement format
- Amazon Working Backwards — Press release before building
- OKR Framework — Objectives & Key Results with alignment cascade
- Business Model Canvas — Osterwalder 9-block model
- PESTEL — Macro-environment scanning
- SWOT + TOWS — Strength/weakness analysis with strategic actions
- April Dunford Positioning — Obviously Awesome methodology
① swot-analysis (Beginner) → Start here: assess where you stand
② positioning-statement (Intermediate) → Define how you're different
③ product-vision-statement (Intermediate) → Set the north star
④ okr-framework (Intermediate) → Measure what matters
⑤ business-model-canvas (Intermediate) → Model the business
⑥ north-star-metric (Intermediate) → Quantify success
⑦ product-strategy-session (Advanced) → Run a full strategy session
| Skill | Type | Difficulty |
|---|---|---|
| swot-analysis | 🧱 | Beginner |
| positioning-statement | 🧱 | Intermediate |
| press-release | 🧱 | Intermediate |
| pestel-analysis | 🧱 | Intermediate |
| product-vision-statement | 🧱 | Intermediate |
| okr-framework | 🧱 | Intermediate |
| business-model-canvas | 🧱 | Intermediate |
| north-star-metric | 🧱 | Intermediate |
| positioning-workshop | 🔄 | Intermediate |
| ai-shaped-readiness-advisor | 🔄 | Advanced |
| strategy-advisor | 🔄 | Advanced |
| product-strategy-session | 🎭 | Advanced |
What it covers: Deciding what to build and in what order — roadmaps, priorities, and resource allocation.
When you need it: Sprint planning, quarterly roadmap creation, backlog grooming, dependency management, or capacity assessment.
- RICE / ICE / Kano / MoSCoW / WSJF — Prioritization frameworks
- Now-Next-Later — Confidence-based roadmapping
- Jeff Patton Story Mapping — User-centric story organization
- Cagan Risk Model — 4-dimension risk assessment (value, usability, feasibility, business viability)
- ADR — Architectural Decision Records for decision documentation
① decision-log (Beginner) → Start here: record decisions
② now-next-later-roadmap (Beginner) → Create a simple roadmap
③ storyboard (Beginner) → Visualize the user journey
④ epic-hypothesis (Intermediate) → Define testable initiatives
⑤ prioritization-advisor (Intermediate) → Choose and apply a framework
⑥ user-story-mapping (Intermediate) → Map stories to the journey
⑦ roadmap-planning (Advanced) → Full roadmap process
| Skill | Type | Difficulty |
|---|---|---|
| decision-log | 🧱 | Beginner |
| now-next-later-roadmap | 🧱 | Beginner |
| storyboard | 🧱 | Beginner |
| epic-hypothesis | 🧱 | Intermediate |
| user-story-mapping | 🧱 | Intermediate |
| risk-assessment | 🧱 | Intermediate |
| dependency-map | 🧱 | Intermediate |
| prioritization-advisor | 🔄 | Intermediate |
| user-story-mapping-workshop | 🔄 | Intermediate |
| epic-breakdown-advisor | 🔄 | Intermediate |
| capacity-planning-advisor | 🔄 | Intermediate |
| roadmap-planning | 🎭 | Advanced |
What it covers: Defining exactly what to build — the bridge between strategy and engineering.
When you need it: Writing PRDs, user stories, acceptance criteria, design handoffs, or technical specifications.
- Mike Cohn User Stories — Standard user story format with Gherkin AC
- Story Splitting Patterns — 8 proven ways to break large stories
- Lean UX Canvas — Hypothesis-driven design
- Teresa Torres OST — Opportunity Solution Tree framework
- Three Amigos — PM + Dev + QA alignment
① user-story (Beginner) → Start here: write good stories
② acceptance-criteria-guide (Beginner) → Add testable criteria
③ design-brief (Beginner) → Handoff to design
④ recommendation-canvas (Beginner) → One-page stakeholder pitch
⑤ prd-template (Intermediate) → Master the PRD format
⑥ user-story-splitting (Intermediate) → Break big stories down
⑦ prd-development (Intermediate) → Full PRD development process
| Skill | Type | Difficulty |
|---|---|---|
| user-story | 🧱 | Beginner |
| acceptance-criteria-guide | 🧱 | Beginner |
| design-brief | 🧱 | Beginner |
| recommendation-canvas | 🧱 | Beginner |
| prd-template | 🧱 | Intermediate |
| user-story-splitting | 🧱 | Intermediate |
| opportunity-solution-tree | 🧱 | Intermediate |
| technical-spec | 🧱 | Advanced |
| lean-ux-canvas | 🔄 | Intermediate |
| prd-development | 🎭 | Intermediate |
What it covers: Building and shipping — sprint ceremonies, delivery cadence, quality gates, and team coordination.
When you need it: Every sprint. Daily for standups, weekly for sprint planning/review, bi-weekly for retros.
- Scrum Ceremonies — Sprint planning, standups, reviews, retros
- Definition of Done — Multi-dimension quality checklist
- Tech Debt Quadrants — Martin Fowler's 2x2 for categorizing debt
- Blocker Escalation — Systematic blocker resolution patterns
① definition-of-done (Beginner) → Start here: what "done" means
② release-notes (Beginner) → Communicate what shipped
③ standup-optimizer (Beginner) → Fix broken standups
④ sprint-review-template (Beginner) → Run effective demos
⑤ sprint-planning-facilitator (Intermediate) → Plan sprints well
⑥ retrospective-facilitator (Intermediate) → Improve continuously
⑦ agile-delivery-process (Intermediate) → Full sprint cadence
| Skill | Type | Difficulty |
|---|---|---|
| definition-of-done | 🧱 | Beginner |
| release-notes | 🧱 | Beginner |
| sprint-review-template | 🧱 | Beginner |
| stakeholder-update | 🧱 | Beginner |
| technical-debt-tracker | 🧱 | Intermediate |
| standup-optimizer | 🔄 | Beginner |
| sprint-planning-facilitator | 🔄 | Intermediate |
| retrospective-facilitator | 🔄 | Intermediate |
| blocker-resolution-advisor | 🔄 | Intermediate |
| agile-delivery-process | 🎭 | Intermediate |
What it covers: Bringing products to market — launch planning, pricing, go-to-market strategy, and end-of-life communications.
When you need it: 6-8 weeks before a major launch, when designing pricing, setting up beta programs, or sunsetting features.
- T-minus Launch Calendar — T-6 to T+2 week planning
- GTM Strategy Canvas — Segments, channels, messaging, metrics
- Beta Program Design — Feedback loops and graduation criteria
- Value-Based Pricing — Willingness-to-pay research and tier design
① feature-announcement (Beginner) → Start here: announce a feature
② launch-checklist (Intermediate) → Build launch readiness
③ beta-program-design (Intermediate) → Design a beta program
④ eol-message (Intermediate) → Handle end-of-life
⑤ gtm-strategy (Advanced) → Full go-to-market strategy
⑥ pricing-packaging-advisor (Advanced) → Design pricing and tiers
⑦ launch-process (Advanced) → End-to-end launch workflow
| Skill | Type | Difficulty |
|---|---|---|
| feature-announcement | 🧱 | Beginner |
| launch-checklist | 🧱 | Intermediate |
| gtm-strategy | 🧱 | Advanced |
| eol-message | 🧱 | Intermediate |
| beta-program-design | 🧱 | Intermediate |
| pricing-packaging-advisor | 🔄 | Advanced |
| launch-process | 🎭 | Advanced |
What it covers: Growing the product after launch — experimentation, retention, acquisition, pricing optimization.
When you need it: Post-launch growth planning, when metrics plateau, designing experiments, diagnosing churn.
- AARRR (Pirate Metrics) — Acquisition, Activation, Retention, Revenue, Referral
- Sean Ellis PMF Test — "Very disappointed" product-market fit probe
- A/B Testing Methodology — Statistical rigor in experimentation
- Cohort Retention Analysis — Time-based user behavior tracking
- Value-Based Pricing — Willingness-to-pay and pricing tier design
① pol-probe (Intermediate) → Start here: measure PMF
② activation-optimization (Intermediate) → Fix your onboarding
③ ab-test-design (Intermediate) → Design rigorous experiments
④ retention-deep-dive (Advanced) → Diagnose retention issues
⑤ growth-model (Advanced) → Build a quantitative model
⑥ churn-diagnosis-advisor (Advanced) → Address churn systematically
⑦ growth-experimentation-advisor (Advanced) → Run an experimentation program
| Skill | Type | Difficulty |
|---|---|---|
| pol-probe | 🧱 | Intermediate |
| ab-test-design | 🧱 | Intermediate |
| activation-optimization | 🧱 | Intermediate |
| pricing-strategy | 🧱 | Advanced |
| retention-deep-dive | 🧱 | Advanced |
| growth-model | 🧱 | Advanced |
| acquisition-channel-advisor | 🔄 | Intermediate |
| feature-investment-advisor | 🔄 | Intermediate |
| pol-probe-advisor | 🔄 | Intermediate |
| finance-based-pricing-advisor | 🔄 | Advanced |
| growth-experimentation-advisor | 🔄 | Advanced |
| churn-diagnosis-advisor | 🔄 | Advanced |
What it covers: Measuring what matters — SaaS economics, funnel analysis, cohort analysis, data storytelling.
When you need it: Board prep, investor updates, metric reviews, when building dashboards, or making data-driven decisions.
- SaaS Economics — CAC, LTV, NRR, Magic Number, Rule of 40
- MRR Waterfall — New, expansion, contraction, churn decomposition
- Funnel Analysis — Step-by-step conversion with drop-off diagnosis
- Cohort Analysis — Acquisition, behavioral, value-based, and predictive cohorts
- TAM-SAM-SOM — Top-down and bottom-up market sizing
① finance-metrics-quickref (Beginner) → Start here: know your numbers
② funnel-analysis (Intermediate) → Understand conversion
③ cohort-analysis (Intermediate) → Track user behavior over time
④ saas-revenue-growth-metrics (Intermediate) → Revenue growth analysis
⑤ tam-sam-som-calculator (Intermediate) → Size your market
⑥ metrics-dashboard-design (Intermediate) → Build a product dashboard
⑦ saas-economics-efficiency-metrics (Advanced) → Full SaaS economics
| Skill | Type | Difficulty |
|---|---|---|
| finance-metrics-quickref | 🧱 | Beginner |
| funnel-analysis | 🧱 | Intermediate |
| cohort-analysis | 🧱 | Intermediate |
| saas-revenue-growth-metrics | 🧱 | Intermediate |
| saas-economics-efficiency-metrics | 🧱 | Advanced |
| tam-sam-som-calculator | 🔄 | Intermediate |
| metrics-dashboard-design | 🔄 | Intermediate |
| data-storytelling-advisor | 🔄 | Intermediate |
| business-health-diagnostic | 🔄 | Advanced |
What it covers: Aligning people — stakeholder management, presentations, negotiation, facilitation.
When you need it: Before any major decision involving multiple stakeholders, exec presentations, cross-team alignment, conflict situations.
- Influence/Interest Grid — Stakeholder classification and engagement strategy
- RACI Matrix — Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, Informed
- BATNA Negotiation — Best Alternative To a Negotiated Agreement
- Context Engineering — Structuring AI interactions for PM tasks
- Facilitation Protocols — Structured workshop and meeting design
① stakeholder-map (Beginner) → Start here: know your stakeholders
② raci-matrix (Beginner) → Clarify who does what
③ meeting-agenda (Beginner) → Run better meetings
④ executive-presentation (Intermediate) → Present to execs
⑤ workshop-facilitation (Intermediate) → Facilitate workshops
⑥ stakeholder-alignment-advisor (Advanced) → Resolve misalignment
⑦ negotiation-playbook (Advanced) → Negotiate effectively
| Skill | Type | Difficulty |
|---|---|---|
| stakeholder-map | 🧱 | Beginner |
| raci-matrix | 🧱 | Beginner |
| meeting-agenda | 🧱 | Beginner |
| executive-presentation | 🧱 | Intermediate |
| workshop-facilitation | 🧱 | Intermediate |
| negotiation-playbook | 🧱 | Advanced |
| context-engineering-advisor | 🔄 | Advanced |
| stakeholder-alignment-advisor | 🔄 | Advanced |
| conflict-resolution-advisor | 🔄 | Advanced |
What it covers: Growing as a PM leader — career development, management skills, hiring, executive readiness.
When you need it: Career planning, preparing for promotions, building your team, mentoring, handling incidents.
- Altitude-Horizon Framework — Navigating strategic vs. tactical thinking
- PM Career Ladder — APM → PM → Senior → Staff → Director → VP → CPO
- Blameless Postmortem — Incident analysis with 5 Whys
- Influence Without Authority — 4-level influence stack
- Director/VP Readiness — Competency assessment across 5 dimensions
① one-on-one-framework (Beginner) → Start here: better 1:1s
② time-management-for-pms (Beginner) → Manage your time
③ pm-career-ladder (Intermediate) → Understand the path
④ incident-postmortem (Intermediate) → Learn from failures
⑤ influence-without-authority (Intermediate) → Lead without title
⑥ mentoring-guide (Intermediate) → Mentor other PMs
⑦ director-readiness-advisor (Advanced) → Prepare for leadership
| Skill | Type | Difficulty |
|---|---|---|
| one-on-one-framework | 🧱 | Beginner |
| time-management-for-pms | 🧱 | Beginner |
| pm-career-ladder | 🧱 | Intermediate |
| altitude-horizon-framework | 🧱 | Intermediate |
| incident-postmortem | 🧱 | Intermediate |
| influence-without-authority | 🧱 | Intermediate |
| mentoring-guide | 🧱 | Intermediate |
| hiring-advisor | 🔄 | Intermediate |
| pm-interview-prep | 🔄 | Intermediate |
| director-readiness-advisor | 🔄 | Advanced |
| vp-cpo-readiness-advisor | 🔄 | Advanced |
| executive-onboarding-playbook | 🎭 | Advanced |
- You don't need to go in order — start in whichever domain matches your immediate need
- Beginner skills first — within any domain, start with beginner skills to build vocabulary
- One domain per week — if you're learning the system, master one domain per week
- Discovery is always first — when starting a new initiative, always begin with Discovery skills
- Communication is always relevant — stakeholder skills apply across all other domains