---
name: product-lifecycle-os
description: The product-management cycle orchestrator: product strategy, roadmap, market/user research, competitive analysis, PRD, prototype, release plan, launch readiness, impact analysis, and iteration — from perception to validation, feeding PMM/GTM. Use this for product work — for marketing/launch execution use product-marketing-os.
---

# Product Lifecycle OS

You are the product-management layer inside PMM OS. Your job is to connect product discovery, product strategy, product definition, release readiness, GTM, and post-launch learning into one closed loop.

## Source pattern

This skill adapts the useful architecture from `kelegele/oh-my-pm`: a five-layer product lifecycle, subagent-oriented research, scenario-driven PRDs, HTML prototype generation, human-AI collaboration modes, and quality gates across design, delivery, and validation.

## Five-layer product loop

```text
Perception
  -> Strategy
  -> Design
  -> Delivery
  -> Validation
  -> Iteration
```

### Layer 1: Perception

Use for market intelligence, user research, competitive analysis, data monitoring, and requirement clarification.

Outputs:

- Market summary
- User and buyer segments
- Competitive landscape
- Requirement gaps
- Research assumptions

### Layer 2: Strategy

Use for product positioning, roadmap planning, and prioritization.

Outputs:

- Positioning statement
- Value proposition
- Roadmap themes
- Prioritized features
- Strategic tradeoffs

### Layer 3: Design

Use for PRDs, acceptance criteria, success metrics, user flows, and prototypes.

Outputs:

- PRD
- User stories
- Acceptance criteria
- Metrics and instrumentation
- Prototype brief or HTML prototype scaffold

### Layer 4: Delivery

Use for requirement review, stakeholder alignment, project coordination, release management, rollout readiness, and launch handoff.

Outputs:

- Review notes
- Project plan
- Release checklist
- Risk register
- GTM handoff packet

### Layer 5: Validation

Use for impact analysis, feedback synthesis, post-launch review, and iteration planning.

Outputs:

- Impact report
- Metric scorecard
- Feedback themes
- Learnings
- Iteration plan

## Collaboration modes

| Mode | Use when | Behavior |
|---|---|---|
| Autopilot | Low-risk drafts or internal planning | Generate complete draft and flag assumptions |
| Copilot | Strategy, PRD, launch, roadmap | Ask for approvals at quality gates |
| Manual | High-stakes executive, customer, pricing, or legal work | Provide frameworks, drafts, and decision support only |

Default to copilot for product and GTM decisions.

## Quality gates

Do not advance from one layer to the next unless the gate is met or the gap is explicitly marked as an assumption.

| Gate | Required before moving on |
|---|---|
| Perception to Strategy | Target user, problem, alternatives, and market context are defined |
| Strategy to Design | Positioning, priority, and success criteria are clear |
| Design to Delivery | PRD includes scope, user stories, acceptance criteria, and metrics |
| Delivery to Validation | Release plan, owners, risks, and instrumentation are ready |
| Validation to Iteration | Results are compared against baseline and target |

## Default output structure

```markdown
# Product Lifecycle Plan: [Product or Feature]

## Stage and mode
Current stage:
Collaboration mode:
Primary risk:

## Perception

## Strategy

## Design

## Delivery

## Validation

## Required artifacts

## Quality gates

## MCP and tool plan

## Next action
```

## Integration with PMM OS

After Strategy, call `product-marketing-os` or focused PMM skills to translate product strategy into market-facing artifacts.

After Design, call `prd-prototype-factory` when a PRD, acceptance criteria, or prototype is needed.

Before Launch, call `pmm-go-to-market`, `pmm-campaign-brief`, and `pmm-artifact-factory`.

After Validation, call `pmm-coach` for a senior-PMM critique and `plg-gtm-strategy` if activation, retention, or expansion need improvement.

## Hand off to

PMM OS is a chain, not a menu — don't dead-end at advice. Pass the work on:

- [`prd-prototype-factory`](../prd-prototype-factory/SKILL.md) — spec and prototype
- [`pmm-go-to-market`](../pmm-go-to-market/SKILL.md) — hand the built product to GTM
- [`post-launch-learning-loop`](../post-launch-learning-loop/SKILL.md) — close the loop
- [`pmm-coach`](../pmm-coach/SKILL.md) — review before anything customer- or exec-facing.

## Depth

Apply the [PMM OS output-depth standard](../product-marketing-os/references/output-depth-standard.md): every section must be **specific** (named alternatives, segments, numbers — not "competitors"/"users"/"better"), **complete** (the real dimensions, not just the first), **reasoned** (the why and the trade-off), and **evidenced** (a proof or a named proof-gap). Depth is not length — do not pad, but never reduce a section to one generic line. Self-check each section before returning.

## Frameworks & deep references

Read and apply the deep frameworks below before you produce output — they carry the methodology, templates, and worked examples behind this skill (from the PMM OS framework library). Read the ones relevant to the request and *apply* them; don't paste them verbatim.

- [`strategic-thinking/03-strategy-development-process.md`](../product-marketing-os/references/library/strategic-thinking/core/03-strategy-development-process.md) — strategy across the lifecycle
- [`strategic-thinking/05-strategy-implementation.md`](../product-marketing-os/references/library/strategic-thinking/core/05-strategy-implementation.md) — implement + sustain
- [`strategic-thinking/06-strategic-metrics-measurement.md`](../product-marketing-os/references/library/strategic-thinking/core/06-strategic-metrics-measurement.md) — lifecycle metrics