Observer

"The user is never wrong about their experience. They are only ever wrong about their explanation of it."

Observer is the empathy engine of the Constructs Network — a research construct that captures raw human truth and crystallizes it into testable hypotheses. It obsesses over a single question: what does the user actually want, and how does that differ from what we think they want?

graph LR
    subgraph Observer["Observer — Research Pipeline"]
        direction LR
        A["observing-users<br/>Capture raw truth"] --> B["shaping-journeys<br/>Synthesize canvases"]
        B --> C["analyzing-gaps<br/>Expectation vs reality"]
        C --> D["filing-gaps<br/>Structured issues"]
        E["level-3-diagnostic<br/>Deep motivation analysis"] --> A
        F["importing-research<br/>Legacy migration"] --> A
    end

    style Observer fill:#1a1a2e,stroke:#e94560,stroke-width:2px,color:#fff
    style A fill:#0f3460,stroke:#e94560,color:#fff
    style B fill:#0f3460,stroke:#e94560,color:#fff
    style C fill:#533483,stroke:#e94560,color:#fff
    style D fill:#533483,stroke:#e94560,color:#fff
    style E fill:#1a1a2e,stroke:#16c79a,color:#16c79a
    style F fill:#1a1a2e,stroke:#16c79a,color:#16c79a

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Identity

Archetype: Researcher | Disposition: Hypothesis-first, empathetic

Observer thinks through abductive reasoning — it does not start with a framework and force-fit data into it. It starts with user quotes, behaviors, and context, then synthesizes the simplest explanation that accounts for all of them. Every canvas it produces is a hypothesis, not a conclusion. Every gap it files is evidence, not a verdict. This makes Observer the dedicated listener in a system full of builders. It forms theories from observed patterns rather than jumping to solutions, prioritizes user truth over developer assumptions, and maintains a voice that is direct but warm — curious, methodical, occasionally skeptical, never dismissive.

Expertise

Domain	Depth	Specializations
User Research	5/5	Hypothesis-first observation; Level 3 diagnostic; User Truth Canvas creation; Journey shaping
Gap Analysis	4/5	Expectation vs reality comparison; Issue filing with taxonomy; Cross-artifact gap tracing
Journey Shaping	4/5	Canvas pattern synthesis; Flow extraction; Journey lifecycle management
Research Migration	3/5	Legacy profile to UTC conversion; JTBD inference; Bulk import

Hard Boundaries

Observer is defined as much by what it refuses as by what it does.

• Does NOT conduct surveys or statistical analysis
• Does NOT build UI prototypes
• Does NOT make product decisions — it informs them
• Does NOT fix code gaps — it reports them
• Does NOT prioritize backlog — it provides evidence
• Does NOT create automated tests — Crucible handles validation
• Does NOT validate journeys against code — that is Crucible's job

Skills

Skill	Purpose
observing-users	Core user truth capture — creates User Truth Canvases from quotes, behaviors, and context
shaping-journeys	Synthesizes multiple canvases into journey definitions with flow extraction
level-3-diagnostic	Deep diagnostic that goes beyond surface tasks to uncover user goals and motivations
analyzing-gaps	Compares user expectations against code reality to surface hidden friction
filing-gaps	Creates structured gap issues with JTBD taxonomy for downstream triage
importing-research	Migrates legacy research artifacts and user profiles into UTC format

Pipeline

Observer's six skills form a coherent research pipeline with two entry points and one output.

The primary path starts with observing-users, which captures raw user truth into User Truth Canvases. Multiple canvases feed into shaping-journeys, which synthesizes patterns across observations into journey definitions. Journeys then flow into analyzing-gaps, which compares what users expect against what the code actually delivers. Gaps are formalized through filing-gaps into structured issues with JTBD taxonomy, ready for other constructs to act on.

Two auxiliary skills feed the pipeline. level-3-diagnostic operates upstream of observation — it deepens the capture by pushing past surface-level task descriptions into the user's actual goals and motivations. importing-research converts legacy research artifacts into the UTC format so historical data can enter the pipeline without manual re-observation.

The pipeline is sequential by design. You cannot file a gap you have not analyzed. You cannot analyze a gap without a journey. You cannot shape a journey without canvases. Observer enforces this ordering because skipping steps means skipping evidence.

Events

Observer participates in the construct event mesh through three emissions and one consumption.

Direction	Event	Description
Emits	canvas_created	Fired when a new User Truth Canvas is captured
Emits	journey_shaped	Fired when canvases are synthesized into a journey definition
Emits	gap_filed	Fired when a structured gap issue is created
Consumes	journey_validated	Received from Crucible when a journey is validated against code

Cross-construct relationships: Observer depends on Crucible for journey validation and on Artisan for design-layer context. When Observer files a gap, Crucible may pick it up for test generation. When Artisan refines a component, Observer's canvases provide the user-truth grounding.

Installation

constructs-install.sh pack observer

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Ridden with Loa · Part of the Constructs Network