version: "1.0.0" name: circles-method description: Lewis Lin's CIRCLES framework for structured product-design answers — Comprehend the situation, Identify the customer, Report customer needs, Cut through prioritization, List solutions, Evaluate trade-offs, Summarize the recommendation. Use when answering a "design a product/feature for X" question, structuring a product-sense decision, or making sure a design proposal didn't skip the customer or the prioritization step. when_to_use: | Use when a design challenge is open-ended ("how would you design X?") and needs a complete, defensible structure rather than jumping to a solution. Primarily for the prioritization-analyst agent; complements prioritization-methods (CIRCLES' "Cut" step is where a prioritization method plugs in). allowed-tools: Read, Write

CIRCLES Method

A 7-step framework (Lewis C. Lin, Decode and Conquer) for answering product- design questions completely instead of jumping to a solution. The discipline is that you do not propose solutions until after you've understood the situation, named a specific customer, and prioritized their needs.

CIRCLES = Comprehend · Identify · Report · Cut · List · Evaluate · Summarize.

The seven steps

C — Comprehend the situation Clarify the question before answering. What is the product/feature? Who's asking and why now? What are the constraints (platform, timeline, business model)? What's the goal — growth, revenue, retention, a new segment? State assumptions explicitly. The classic mistake is answering a question you weren't asked.

I — Identify the customer Pick a specific customer segment. Not "everyone" — a named persona with a context. If multiple segments exist, list them, then choose ONE to design for this pass and say why (size, strategic value, acuteness of pain).

R — Report customer needs For the chosen customer, enumerate their needs / jobs / pain points. Frame as the customer's goals, not features. Use user stories: "As a [customer], I want to [need] so that [outcome]." Aim for 5-7; group related ones.

C — Cut through / prioritize You can't build everything. Prioritize the needs against an explicit criterion — goal-impact, reach, strategic fit, effort. This is where a prioritization method plugs in (see prioritization-methods: RICE, value-vs-effort, etc.). Pick the top 1-3 needs to address and state the criterion you used.

L — List solutions For the prioritized needs, brainstorm solutions — at least 3, ideally divergent (a minimal one, an ambitious one, a left-field one). Don't anchor on the first idea. Describe each in a sentence or two.

E — Evaluate trade-offs For each solution, weigh pros vs cons against axes that matter here: user value, engineering effort, revenue impact, time-to-market, strategic risk, reversibility. A small comparison table works well. Make the trade-offs visible, not hidden.

S — Summarize / recommend State the recommendation crisply: which solution, for which need, for which customer, and why it wins on the trade-offs. Tie it back to the goal from step C. Name the metric you'd watch and the biggest assumption you'd validate first.

Output shape

COMPREHEND: [restated question + goal + constraints + assumptions]
IDENTIFY:   [chosen segment + why this one]
REPORT:     [5-7 prioritizable needs as user stories]
CUT:        [top 1-3 needs + the prioritization criterion used]
LIST:       [≥3 candidate solutions, divergent]
EVALUATE:   [trade-off table: solution × {value, effort, risk, …}]
SUMMARIZE:  [the recommendation + success metric + riskiest assumption]

Anti-patterns to call out

• Skipping Comprehend → answering the wrong question. Always clarify first.
• "Everyone" as the customer → no real design target. Force a segment.
• Needs written as features → "add dark mode" is a solution; the need is the

goal behind it.

• One solution only → no trade-off to evaluate. Force ≥3 divergent options.
• No prioritization criterion → "Cut" becomes arbitrary. Name the criterion.
• Recommendation untethered from the goal → loop back to step C.

Relationship to other great-pm skills

• The Cut step delegates to prioritization-methods for the scoring method.
• For the Identify/Report steps, user-research and value-proposition-canvas

sharpen the segment and its needs.

• For Evaluate, tradeoff-arbiter's lens (real cost of each option) applies.

Further reading

• Lewis C. Lin, Decode and Conquer: Answers to Product Management Interviews