PT 2: Product Journey

As a startup, you'll need to define your product.

Introduction

30 Second Summary

Early startup ideas often arrive as a pile of exciting possibilities. Without a deadline or shared direction, useful decisions can disappear into endless discussion.

In this project, you will run a timeboxed product discovery session with your team in FigJam, then capture the decisions in product-requirements.md. You will use the same FigJam file to turn those requirements into a shared brand mood board.

What You'll Build

You will present one FigJam file where your team can trace SwapMeet from competing discovery ideas to a focused brand direction.

By the end of this project, you'll have:

Run a collaborative discovery sprint where your team captures competing ideas as stickies before choosing a direction.
Share durable product context through product-requirements.md, with clear decisions about value, features, users, purpose, and product appeal.
Present a requirements-aligned brand mood in FigJam using references and team-written stickies that explain the intended feeling.
Secret Mission: Choose a team-agreed startup name and test it against the fit, communicates, and love criteria.

Are there any prerequisites?

You need the SwapMeet project with the Claude Code agent harness from Pt 1. You also need access to the prepared FigJam template, which already contains the Discovery and Brand Mood sections.

Before We Start

This is your moment to commit to making focused product decisions for SwapMeet through a timeboxed product discovery session.

Introduce the Agenda

Prepare the FigJam Session

SwapMeet already has code. Its next version still needs a shared product direction.

The prepared FigJam file gives your team one place to run the session. Its Discovery and Brand Mood sections keep the discussion and visual direction connected.

https://www.figma.com/board/ze0eZ22Y64HO9ctnygH6b1/PT2-Mood-Board-%E2%80%94-Template--Duplicate-me--?node-id=0-1&t=bDtfCkK2HQh1TH27-1

👆Be sure to duplicate the template file and not edit directly on our template 👆

In this step, get ready to:

Open the prepared FigJam file with your team.
Confirm the agenda order across its two sections.
Agree to separate 20-minute caps for discovery and brand-mood work.

Open the prepared session file

Open the prepared FigJam template from the project resources.
Sign in to Figma if prompted.
Confirm that you can select tools from the FigJam toolbar.
Ask each teammate to open the same FigJam file.

You should see the Discovery and Brand Mood sections. The active toolbar confirms that you can edit the file.

Agree on the session plan

The Discovery section turns open questions into product decisions. The Brand Mood section translates those decisions into a visual direction.

State that the session decides what SwapMeet should become for the online community market.
Set the discovery timebox to 20 minutes.
Set the brand-mood timebox to 20 minutes.
Agree to stop each activity when its timer reaches 00:00.

Working Solo?

A team of one can follow the same plan. Use the post-its to make each option visible before you choose.

Verify the team is ready

Before you check the setup, which section should your team use first?

Ask your team to point to the Discovery section.
Ask your team to state the 20-minute discovery cap.
Ask your team to point to the Brand Mood section.
Ask your team to state the 20-minute brand-mood cap.

Your team should identify Discovery as the starting point. They should also confirm a separate 20-minute cap for each section.

Your shared workspace and timeboxes are ready. Next, your team will fill Discovery with competing ideas before choosing among them.

Start the Requirements Discovery Sprint

Run the Discovery Sprint

Your FigJam session is ready with three firm timeboxes. Now your team can think independently, reveal its favoured ideas, and draw out a shared direction.

Product discovery starts by protecting independent thinking before the group evaluates anything. You will spend 20 minutes creating post-its, five minutes voting them up, and five minutes discussing the ideas that receive the most support.

In this step, get ready to:

Create post-its independently across the prepared prompt boards.
Vote up the ideas that each teammate favours.
Draw out the strongest details and agree on the current selected answers.

Create ideas independently

The prepared Discovery section gives each prompt its own board. Everyone works independently during this timebox so quieter voices and unexpected ideas reach the board before group opinions take over.

Open the Discovery section in your FigJam file.
Open Timer, voting, and music in the upper-right corner.
Set the timer to 20:00.
Start the countdown.
Create your own post-its beneath every prepared prompt.
Keep each idea on a separate post-it.
Avoid discussing or evaluating ideas during the timebox.
Stop adding post-its when the countdown ends.

You should see each prompt board populated with independently created post-its from several teammates. The range of answers gives the team more possibilities to evaluate.

Unable to Add Post-Its?

Confirm that the FigJam toolbar is active. A view-only file lets you read the template but prevents you from adding post-its.

Help me check my FigJam edit access.

Vote up the favoured ideas

Voting gives everyone an equal way to respond to the full set of independent ideas. The reaction totals reveal which post-its deserve the team's attention.

Reset the timer to 05:00.
Start the countdown.
Read the post-its beneath every prompt.
Add one sticker or emoji reaction to your favoured post-it beneath each prompt.
Stop voting when the countdown ends.

You should see reactions gathering around the ideas the team favours. Tied reactions keep multiple strong ideas in the final discussion.

Draw out the favoured ideas

The most-reacted post-its show where the team sees promise. Use the final five minutes to understand that promise and turn it into a direction the team can support.

Reset the timer to 05:00.
Start the countdown.
Invite the author of each favoured post-it to explain the idea.
Ask the group what makes each favoured idea valuable to users.
Clarify any detail the group interpreted differently.
Agree on one current answer for every prompt.
Add Selected to each agreed post-it.
Identify one selected feature as the highest-value feature.

You should see independently generated ideas, visible voting patterns, and one clearly selected answer for every prompt. The remaining post-its preserve other strong possibilities for future iterations.

Your team has moved from independent thinking to a direction it can support. Next, you will preserve those decisions in a reusable requirements file.

Commit the Product Requirements

Your FigJam Discovery section now shows the ideas your team considered and the answers it selected. The voting and discussion have already produced a shared direction.

A decision becomes useful when future builders can find and reuse it. This step transfers the agreed answers into a requirements file and checks that the written handoff matches the board.

In this step, get ready to:

Transfer the team-approved answers into product-requirements.md.
Make the highest-value feature explicit in the requirements.
Verify that the FigJam board and requirements file contain the same decisions.

Create the requirements file

FigJam holds the conversation. A Markdown file gives the selected decisions a durable home inside the SwapMeet project.

Return to the existing SwapMeet project in Claude Code.
Create product-requirements.md inside the SwapMeet project by using the structure below:

# Product Requirements

## How do we add value to the online community market?

[[MARKET_VALUE="your team's selected value statement"]]

## What features do we want?

[[DESIRED_FEATURES="your team's selected features and highest-value feature"]]

## Who are our users/customers?

[[TARGET_USERS="your team's selected users or customers"]]

## Why do we want to build this?

[[PRODUCT_PURPOSE="your team's selected product purpose"]]

### Will we love the product when we are done?

[[PRODUCT_LOVE="why your team will love the finished product"]]

Why Keep a Markdown Handoff?

The headings preserve the questions from Discovery. Each answer captures the current decision your team selected from its post-its.

The file becomes reusable product context for future humans and agents. The board keeps the discussion while the file carries the outcome.

Replace each variable with the matching selected answer from FigJam.
Name the highest-value feature in the features answer.
Save product-requirements.md.
Read the file from top to bottom.

You should see one current answer beneath every heading. The features answer should clearly name the feature your team considers most valuable.

File or Answer Missing?

Confirm that Claude Code created product-requirements.md inside the existing SwapMeet project. Check that every heading matches the structure above.

Help me check my requirements file.

Verify both artifacts agree

Before the final review, do you expect every selected FigJam answer to appear unchanged in the file?

Compare the selected value answer in FigJam with the first answer in product-requirements.md.
Compare the selected features with the features answer in the file.
Compare the selected users with the users answer in the file.
Compare the selected purpose with the purpose answer in the file.
Compare the selected product-love answer with the final answer in the file.

You should see the same five decisions in FigJam and the requirements file. The unselected ideas remain part of the discovery record without competing with the chosen direction.

Strong work. Your team has turned its selected post-its into product context that future builders can reuse.

Your discovery decisions now live in FigJam and product-requirements.md. Next, your team will use them to shape the Brand Mood section.

Tip: Save this with a "git commit" and a "git push" in your Swapmeet repo.

Build a Mood Board in Paper

Build the Brand Mood in FigJam

Your product requirements now explain what SwapMeet should do. They still need a shared visual direction that shows how the product should feel.

The prepared FigJam file keeps that next conversation beside the discovery work. In this step, your team will use the Brand Mood section to turn the chosen requirements into a focused mood board.

Figma Link

In this step, get ready to:

Run a 20-minute Brand Mood exercise in FigJam.
Vote on the team's mood ideas with emoji reactions for five minutes.
Discuss the voting results for five minutes before choosing the final direction.

Start the Brand Mood timebox

The Discovery decisions give this activity a filter. Every mood idea should support the product your team chose to build.

Open the Brand Mood section in the same FigJam file.
Review the selected answers in the Discovery section.
Open Timer, voting, and music in the upper-right corner.
Set the timer to 20:00.
Start the countdown.

You should see the Brand Mood prompts beside the product decisions that guide them. The countdown should now be running for everyone in the file.

Keep Requirements in View

Keep the selected requirements close enough to reread during the discussion. A mood idea earns its place when your team can connect it to one of those decisions.

Explore the brand mood

The first pass is about range. Short post-its let each teammate contribute ideas without polishing them too early.

Read the first prepared Brand Mood prompt aloud.
Add each response to its own post-it.
Discuss words that describe the product's intended feeling.
Discuss colors that support that feeling.
Discuss typography styles that suit the product.
Discuss image or product references that fit the direction.
Repeat the process for every prepared prompt.

You should see several possible brand directions taking shape through the team's post-its. Each prompt should have enough responses to support a real discussion.

Choose and verify the direction

A useful mood board communicates one coherent feeling. The final discussion removes ideas that pull SwapMeet away from its chosen requirements.

Before you review the finished section, which product requirement do you expect the brand mood to communicate most clearly?

Stop adding post-its when the 20-minute timer reaches 00:00.
Start a five-minute vote by resetting the timer to 05:00.
Add one emoji reaction to each idea that best supports the chosen product requirements.
Start a five-minute results discussion by resetting the timer to 05:00.
Discuss what the reaction totals reveal about the strongest mood ideas.
Agree on the words, colors, typography, and references that define the final mood.
Take a screenshot of the completed Brand Mood section.

You should see one focused brand direction supported by your team's post-its. The remaining ideas should connect clearly to the product decisions in Discovery.

That visual direction is locked in. Your team can now explain what SwapMeet should do and how it should feel from one shared FigJam file.

Brand Mood Still Feels Random?

A random result usually contains ideas that serve different products or audiences. Compare each questionable post-it with the selected requirements, then remove the one that cannot be defended.

Help me reconnect the mood to the requirements.

Secret mission

Choose Your Company Name

Use the Company Names board in the original FigJam template to generate candidates, test them against three shared questions, and record one team-selected name.

Clean Up Your Resources

Decide whether to keep the shared FigJam file and local requirements file, pause your work, or delete both. This project creates no metered cloud resources, so leaving the files in place adds no ongoing usage cost.

Resources you used:

Local product-requirements.md file inside the existing SwapMeet project.
Local Paper Desktop mood board file containing the visual direction for the product.

Keep everything running

No action needed. Choose this if you want to preserve the product context for later projects.

Keep product-requirements.md inside the existing SwapMeet project for Second Brain Pt 2.
Keep the Paper mood board file as the visual reference for future design decisions.

Pause - I'll come back to this later

Close the running tools while keeping both deliverables intact for your next session.

Close Claude Code if it is still running.
Close Paper Desktop.
Keep product-requirements.md saved inside the existing SwapMeet project.
Keep the completed Paper mood board file saved on your Mac.

Delete - I don't want to use this again

Deletion becomes permanent once you empty the Trash. Later projects expect this product context to exist.

Close the completed mood board file in Paper Desktop.
In Finder, locate the existing SwapMeet project folder from Pt 1.
Move product-requirements.md from that folder to Trash.
In Finder, locate the saved Paper mood board file.
Move the Paper mood board file to Trash.
Open Trash in Finder.

You should see product-requirements.md plus the Paper mood board file in the Trash.

Empty Trash when you are certain you do not need either file.

You should no longer see either file in the Trash. You need to recreate both resources before continuing to later projects.

Nice Work!

You did it! SwapMeet now has a focused product direction captured in product-requirements.md plus a requirements-aligned mood board in Paper Desktop.

You've learned how to:

Run a 20-minute product discovery sprint. Use the sprint to decide how SwapMeet adds value. Choose its highest-value feature. Identify its target users. Capture its purpose.
Create persistent product context in product-requirements.md. Store it as Markdown so future humans can reuse it. Future agents can reuse the same file.
Build a requirements-aligned mood board in Paper Desktop. Use visual references to communicate the intended feeling. Connect the remaining references to the product requirements.
Secret Mission: Choose a team-agreed startup name after considering multiple candidates. Test the winner for fit. Test whether it communicates the product. Confirm the team loves it. Record the name under ## Name with its rationale.

Ready to quiz yourself?