bmad-template/.trae/skills/bmad-create-ux-design/steps/step-03-core-experience.md

Step 3: Core Experience Definition

MANDATORY EXECUTION RULES (READ FIRST):

• 🛑 NEVER generate content without user input

• 📖 CRITICAL: ALWAYS read the complete step file before taking any action - partial understanding leads to incomplete decisions

• 🔄 CRITICAL: When loading next step with ‘C’, ensure the entire file is read and understood before proceeding

• ✅ ALWAYS treat this as collaborative discovery between UX facilitator and stakeholder

• 📋 YOU ARE A UX FACILITATOR, not a content generator

• 💬 FOCUS on defining the core user experience and platform

• 🎯 COLLABORATIVE discovery, not assumption-based design

• ✅ YOU MUST ALWAYS SPEAK OUTPUT In your Agent communication style with the config {communication_language}

• ✅ YOU MUST ALWAYS WRITE all artifact and document content in {document_output_language}

EXECUTION PROTOCOLS:

• 🎯 Show your analysis before taking any action
• ⚠️ Present A/P/C menu after generating core experience content
• 💾 ONLY save when user chooses C (Continue)
• 📖 Update output file frontmatter, adding this step to the end of the list of stepsCompleted.
• 🚫 FORBIDDEN to load next step until C is selected

COLLABORATION MENUS (A/P/C):

This step will generate content and present choices:

• A (Advanced Elicitation): Use discovery protocols to develop deeper experience insights
• P (Party Mode): Bring multiple perspectives to define optimal user experience
• C (Continue): Save the content to the document and proceed to next step

PROTOCOL INTEGRATION:

• When ‘A’ selected: Invoke the bmad-advanced-elicitation skill
• When ‘P’ selected: Invoke the bmad-party-mode skill
• PROTOCOLS always return to this step’s A/P/C menu
• User accepts/rejects protocol changes before proceeding

CONTEXT BOUNDARIES:

• Current document and frontmatter from previous steps are available
• Project understanding from step 2 informs this step
• No additional data files needed for this step
• Focus on core experience and platform decisions

YOUR TASK:

Define the core user experience, platform requirements, and what makes the interaction effortless.

CORE EXPERIENCE DISCOVERY SEQUENCE:

1. Define Core User Action

Start by identifying the most important user interaction: “Now let’s dig into the heart of the user experience for {{project_name}}.

Core Experience Questions:

• What’s the ONE thing users will do most frequently?
• What user action is absolutely critical to get right?
• What should be completely effortless for users?
• If we nail one interaction, everything else follows - what is it?

Think about the core loop or primary action that defines your product’s value.”

2. Explore Platform Requirements

Determine where and how users will interact: “Let’s define the platform context for {{project_name}}:

Platform Questions:

• Web, mobile app, desktop, or multiple platforms?
• Will this be primarily touch-based or mouse/keyboard?
• Any specific platform requirements or constraints?
• Do we need to consider offline functionality?
• Any device-specific capabilities we should leverage?”

3. Identify Effortless Interactions

Surface what should feel magical or completely seamless: “Effortless Experience Design:

• What user actions should feel completely natural and require zero thought?
• Where do users currently struggle with similar products?
• What interaction, if made effortless, would create delight?
• What should happen automatically without user intervention?
• Where can we eliminate steps that competitors require?”

4. Define Critical Success Moments

Identify the moments that determine success or failure: “Critical Success Moments:

• What’s the moment where users realize ‘this is better’?
• When does the user feel successful or accomplished?
• What interaction, if failed, would ruin the experience?
• What are the make-or-break user flows?
• Where does first-time user success happen?”

5. Synthesize Experience Principles

Extract guiding principles from the conversation: “Based on our discussion, I’m hearing these core experience principles for {{project_name}}:

Experience Principles:

• [Principle 1 based on core action focus]
• [Principle 2 based on effortless interactions]
• [Principle 3 based on platform considerations]
• [Principle 4 based on critical success moments]

These principles will guide all our UX decisions. Do these capture what’s most important?”

6. Generate Core Experience Content

Prepare the content to append to the document:

Content Structure:

When saving to document, append these Level 2 and Level 3 sections:

## Core User Experience

### Defining Experience

[Core experience definition based on conversation]

### Platform Strategy

[Platform requirements and decisions based on conversation]

### Effortless Interactions

[Effortless interaction areas identified based on conversation]

### Critical Success Moments

[Critical success moments defined based on conversation]

### Experience Principles

[Guiding principles for UX decisions based on conversation]

7. Present Content and Menu

Show the generated core experience content and present choices: “I’ve defined the core user experience for {{project_name}} based on our conversation. This establishes the foundation for all our UX design decisions.

Here’s what I’ll add to the document:

[Show the complete markdown content from step 6]

What would you like to do? [A] Advanced Elicitation - Let’s refine the core experience definition [P] Party Mode - Bring different perspectives on the user experience [C] Continue - Save this to the document and move to emotional response definition”

8. Handle Menu Selection

If ‘A’ (Advanced Elicitation):

• Invoke the bmad-advanced-elicitation skill with the current core experience content
• Process the enhanced experience insights that come back
• Ask user: “Accept these improvements to the core experience definition? (y/n)”
• If yes: Update content with improvements, then return to A/P/C menu
• If no: Keep original content, then return to A/P/C menu

If ‘P’ (Party Mode):

• Invoke the bmad-party-mode skill with the current core experience definition
• Process the collaborative experience improvements that come back
• Ask user: “Accept these changes to the core experience definition? (y/n)”
• If yes: Update content with improvements, then return to A/P/C menu
• If no: Keep original content, then return to A/P/C menu

If ‘C’ (Continue):

• Append the final content to {planning_artifacts}/ux-design-specification.md
• Update frontmatter: append step to end of stepsCompleted array
• Load ./step-04-emotional-response.md

APPEND TO DOCUMENT:

When user selects ‘C’, append the content directly to the document using the structure from step 6.

SUCCESS METRICS:

✅ Core user action clearly identified and defined ✅ Platform requirements thoroughly explored ✅ Effortless interaction areas identified ✅ Critical success moments mapped out ✅ Experience principles established as guiding framework ✅ A/P/C menu presented and handled correctly ✅ Content properly appended to document when C selected

FAILURE MODES:

❌ Missing the core user action that defines the product ❌ Not properly considering platform requirements ❌ Overlooking what should be effortless for users ❌ Not identifying critical make-or-break interactions ❌ Experience principles too generic or not actionable ❌ Not presenting A/P/C menu after content generation ❌ Appending content without user selecting ‘C’

❌ CRITICAL: Reading only partial step file - leads to incomplete understanding and poor decisions ❌ CRITICAL: Proceeding with ‘C’ without fully reading and understanding the next step file ❌ CRITICAL: Making decisions without complete understanding of step requirements and protocols

NEXT STEP:

After user selects ‘C’ and content is saved to document, load ./step-04-emotional-response.md to define desired emotional responses.

Remember: Do NOT proceed to step-04 until user explicitly selects ‘C’ from the A/P/C menu and content is saved!