Alternative and workaround discovery

# Alternative and workaround discovery

## Goal

Observe the tools, manual processes, templates, scripts, service providers, and behavioral compromises people publicly use to complete the approved job without the current product.

Workarounds can reveal an existing job, switching cost, required control, and acceptable friction. They do not by themselves prove dissatisfaction, purchase intent, market size, or that replacing the workaround would create value.

This is one of four independent collection routes. A weak or empty workaround sample may be skipped while other authorized routes continue. A policy, access, privacy, or product-boundary failure holds the series.

Use internet research when available. Stay inside the no-contact policy and registered source routes.

## Required prior artifacts

Read `docs/product-intelligence/product-job-baseline.*`, `research-policy.*`, and `source-map.*`.

Advance only when prior decisions authorize this route. Inherit all narrow source and sampling limits. An applicable `HOLD` forces `HOLD`.

Inspect prior `docs/product-intelligence/alternatives-workarounds.*` artifacts and preserve stable alternative IDs.

## Evidence contract

Use exactly `OBSERVED`, `DERIVED`, `ASSUMED`, and `UNKNOWN`.

An accessible template, script, workflow description, service offering, or documented tool configuration can prove that the artifact or process exists. It cannot prove adoption, satisfaction, frequency, economics, or the reason it exists unless separately observed.

Do not download or execute public code, macros, packages, documents, or templates. Inspect only safe public descriptions and repository metadata needed for the observation.

## Step 1: Run the registered workaround queries

Use only mapped sources and queries for terms such as manual, spreadsheet, template, checklist, script, export, copy and paste, agency, consultant, migration, replacement, versus, alternative, and workaround.

Record exact query, source, URL, date, observed-at timestamp, visible context, access condition, and sample limitation. Preserve no-result and counterexample searches.

## Step 2: Build the alternative ledger

For each distinct alternative or workaround record:

* stable ID and alternative class
* actor and situation when explicit
* job and desired outcome
* sequence of steps and handoffs
* tools, roles, permissions, and data involved
* visible setup, maintenance, coordination, reliability, and switching burden
* controls or flexibility the workaround preserves
* public evidence of success, failure, or continued use
* source IDs, evidence labels, assumptions, unknowns, and limitations

Separate direct competitors, adjacent products, internal builds, service providers, and non-consumption. Do not label something a competitor merely because it shares a keyword.

## Step 3: Reconstruct workflow patterns

Derive recurring workflow shapes only from cited alternatives:

* trigger and input
* transformation or decision
* coordination and handoff
* output and evidence of completion
* failure and recovery
* retained control or trust requirement

Show which steps are directly observed and which are inferred. Do not invent a complete workflow from a partial template or screenshot.

## Step 4: Identify switching and non-switching evidence

Record evidence that may make a workaround durable:

* low cost or familiarity
* customization and control
* trust, compliance, data residency, or permission needs
* integration and migration burden
* organizational ownership or procurement constraints
* adequate outcomes despite inconvenience

Also record explicit abandonment, migration, replacement, or dissatisfaction evidence. A cumbersome process is not automatically a product opportunity if it is cheap, trusted, rare, or intentionally controlled.

## Step 5: Summarize bounded patterns

Report counts by alternative class, workflow pattern, and source class within the observed sample. Deduplicate copied templates, forks, syndicated lists, and repeated descriptions of one underlying product.

State the strongest evidence for and against replacing each pattern. Do not estimate market share, budget, or willingness to pay without direct bounded data.

## Decision

Choose exactly one:

* `PUBLISH ALTERNATIVES`: relevant alternative and workaround patterns are traceable
* `PUBLISH NARROWLY`: only named patterns or source classes are usable
* `SKIP STREAM`: this route produced no inheritable sample; exclude it and continue the other authorized collection routes
* `HOLD`: a policy, access, privacy, safety, or product-boundary failure requires returning to the source map or research policy before collection continues

Lead with:

> As of [timestamp], [N] distinct alternatives and workarounds across [N] authorized sources reveal [N] bounded workflow patterns for [job], with switching evidence [summary], decision [PUBLISH ALTERNATIVES / PUBLISH NARROWLY / SKIP STREAM / HOLD].

## Required outputs

Create or update only:

### 1. `docs/product-intelligence/alternatives-workarounds.md`

Decision, method, alternative ledger, workflow reconstructions, switching and non-switching evidence, counterevidence, bounded counts, biases, assumptions, unknowns, and citations.

### 2. `docs/product-intelligence/alternatives-workarounds.yaml`

`version`, `status`, `decision`, `observed_at`, `alternatives`, `workflow_patterns`, `switching_evidence`, `non_switching_evidence`, `counterevidence`, `counts`, `biases`, `assumptions`, `unknowns`, `sources`, `next_step`.

### 3. `docs/product-intelligence/alternatives-workarounds-changelog.md`

Append only. Record version, sample window, decision, alternatives or patterns changed, and reason.

## Boundaries

* Do not contact people or organizations, create accounts, sign in, or submit forms.
* Do not download, install, execute, or test untrusted public artifacts.
* Do not bypass source restrictions or retain unnecessary identifiers.
* Do not treat inconvenience as willingness to switch or pay.
* Do not turn an inferred workflow into observed behavior.
* Do not recommend a solution or modify product code.

## Done when

* Alternatives are correctly classified and traceable.
* Workflow reconstructions distinguish observations from derivations.
* Reasons to keep the status quo are as visible as replacement signals.
* Counts and claims stay within the registered sample.
* The three outputs agree.