Speckit Evaluate

Purpose: Evaluate the clarified spec against market research findings to optimize feature set before design phase.

When to Use

• After Phase 3.5 (Research) is complete
• Before Phase 4 (Design)
• When research.md exists

Prerequisites

• Spec exists at .github/speckit/specs/{feature-name}.md
• Spec status is clarified
• Research exists at .github/speckit/specs/{feature-name}/research.md
• User has reviewed research findings

Execution

1. Delegate to Architect (Opus)

Use speckit-architect for deep reasoning evaluation:

task(
  subagent_type="speckit-architect",
  description="Evaluate spec against market research",
  prompt="Evaluate this feature spec against the market research.

  **Spec Path**: {spec path}
  **Research Path**: {research.md path}

  Read both files thoroughly, then provide evaluation:

  ## 1. Features to ADD
  What's missing that competitors have or market expects?
  - Feature name
  - Rationale (why it's needed)
  - Evidence (from research - which competitor, which trend)
  - Impact: High/Medium/Low
  - Effort estimate: Small/Medium/Large

  ## 2. Features to REMOVE
  What's over-engineered, unnecessary, or doesn't align with market?
  - Feature name
  - Rationale (why remove)
  - Evidence (competitors don't have it, not a best practice, etc.)
  - Risk of keeping it

  ## 3. Features to MODIFY
  What needs adjustment based on best practices?
  - Feature name
  - Current approach (from spec)
  - Suggested change
  - Rationale and evidence
  - Impact: High/Medium/Low

  ## 4. Priority Assessment
  Categorize ALL features (existing + suggested additions):
  - **Must-Have (P0)**: Core value, competitors all have it
  - **Should-Have (P1)**: Expected by users, differentiator
  - **Nice-to-Have (P2)**: Enhancement, future consideration

  ## 5. Differentiation Strategy
  Based on research, how should this feature stand out?
  - Key differentiators to emphasize
  - Unique value proposition
  - Positioning against competitors

  Be specific and cite evidence from research.md for each recommendation."
)

2. Present Evaluation to User

For each recommendation, ask user to Accept or Reject:

## Features to ADD

### 1. {Feature Name}
- **Rationale**: {why}
- **Evidence**: {from research}
- **Impact**: High | **Effort**: Medium

→ [Accept] / [Reject]
User decision: ___

### 2. {Feature Name}
...

## Features to REMOVE
...

## Features to MODIFY
...

3. Record Decisions

For each suggestion:

• If Accept: Mark for inclusion in spec update
• If Reject: Record user's reasoning

4. Update Spec

Apply accepted changes:

• Add new features to spec
• Remove rejected features
• Modify adjusted features
• Update priority order based on assessment

5. Save Evaluation

Save to: .github/speckit/specs/{feature-name}/evaluation.md

Include:

• All recommendations
• User decisions (accept/reject)
• Reasoning for rejections
• Final priority list

6. Finalize

• Update spec status to evaluated
• Confirm with user: "Spec is now finalized. Ready to proceed to Design?"
• STOP and wait for explicit approval

Output Format

# Feature Evaluation: {Feature Name}

**Generated**: {date}
**Spec**: {spec path}
**Research**: {research path}
**Status**: Complete

## Evaluation Summary

| Category | Count | Accepted | Rejected |
|----------|-------|----------|----------|
| Add | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| Remove | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| Modify | 4 | 3 | 1 |

## Detailed Recommendations

### Features to ADD

#### 1. {Feature Name} ✅ ACCEPTED
- **Rationale**: {why}
- **Evidence**: {from research}
- **Impact**: High | **Effort**: Medium

#### 2. {Feature Name} ❌ REJECTED
- **Rationale**: {why}
- **Evidence**: {from research}
- **User Reasoning**: "{user's reason for rejection}"

### Features to REMOVE
...

### Features to MODIFY
...

## Final Priority Assessment

### P0 - Must Have
1. {feature}
2. {feature}

### P1 - Should Have
1. {feature}

### P2 - Nice to Have
1. {feature}

## Differentiation Strategy

{summary of how to position against competitors}

---
*Evaluation conducted by speckit-architect (Opus 4.5)*
*User decisions recorded: {date}*

Handoff

After evaluation is complete and user approves:

• Update spec status to evaluated
• Next step: Phase 4 (Design Session)
• Spec is now frozen for design phase

Key Principles

1. User has final say - AI suggests, user decides
2. Evidence-based - Every recommendation cites research
3. No scope creep - Removing features is as valuable as adding
4. Priority clarity - Clear P0/P1/P2 before design