name	startup-review-mining
description	Systematic extraction of pain points, feature gaps, switching triggers, and opportunities from review sources (B2B review sites, app stores, forums, communities, issue trackers). Includes bias hygiene, taxonomy building, and turning insights into experiments.

Review Mining Skill — Quick Reference

This skill extracts recurring customer pain and constraints from reviews and testimonials, then converts them into product bets and experiments. Treat reviews as a biased sample; triangulate before betting.

Key Distinction from software-ux-research:

software-ux-research = UI/UX pain points only
startup-review-mining (this skill) = ALL pain dimensions (pricing, support, integration, performance, onboarding, value gaps)

Modern Best Practices (Dec 2025):

Start with source hygiene: sampling plan, platform skews, and fake-review defenses.
Build a taxonomy (theme × segment × severity) before counting keywords.
Convert insights into bets with explicit success metrics and decision rules.
Handle customer/market data with purpose limitation, retention, and access controls.

When to Use This Skill

Invoke when users ask for:

Pain point extraction from reviews (any source)
Competitive weakness analysis
Feature gap identification
Switching trigger analysis (why customers leave competitors)
Market opportunity discovery through customer complaints
Review sentiment analysis across platforms
B2B software evaluation (G2, Capterra, TrustRadius)
B2C app analysis (App Store, Play Store)
Community sentiment (Reddit, HN, Twitter/X)
Support pain patterns (forums, tickets, Stack Overflow)

Quick Reference Table

Mining Task	Source Category	Template	Output
Full Review Mining	All sources	review-mining-report.md	Comprehensive pain analysis
B2B Software	G2, Capterra, TrustRadius	b2b-review-extraction.md	Enterprise pain points
B2C Apps	App Store, Play Store	b2c-review-extraction.md	Consumer pain points
Tech Communities	Reddit, HN, ProductHunt	community-sentiment.md	Technical sentiment
Competitor Weakness	Cross-platform	competitor-weakness-matrix.md	Competitive gaps
Switching Triggers	All sources	switching-trigger-analysis.md	Why customers leave
Feature Requests	All sources	feature-request-aggregator.md	Unmet needs
Opportunity Mapping	All sources	opportunity-from-reviews.md	Actionable opportunities

Review Source Hygiene (Dec 2025)

Sampling and Bias Checklist

Define the time window (e.g., last 6–12 months) and why.
Sample across ratings (not only 1-star or 5-star).
Separate segments (SMB vs enterprise; dev vs non-dev; geo; regulated vs not).
Flag incentives and moderation (some platforms skew toward promoters).

Fake Review and Manipulation Defenses

Look for repeated phrasing, unnatural timing bursts, and identical complaints/praise across accounts.
Prefer “verified” signals when available; still spot-check.
Treat suspicious clusters as weak evidence until corroborated elsewhere.

Compliance note: if you use reviews for marketing claims or comparisons, be aware of the FTC’s consumer reviews/testimonials rule (16 CFR Part 465). Source: https://www.ftc.gov/legal-library/browse/federal-register-notices/16-cfr-part-465-trade-regulation-rule-use-consumer-reviews-testimonials-final-rule

The 7 Pain Dimensions

Reviews reveal pain across 7 dimensions - not just UI/UX:

Dimension	What to Look For	Example Signals
1. UI/UX Pain	Usability, navigation, design	"confusing interface", "hard to find", "ugly design"
2. Pricing Pain	Cost, billing, contracts	"too expensive", "hidden fees", "locked in contract"
3. Support Pain	Response time, resolution quality	"slow support", "unhelpful", "no documentation"
4. Integration Pain	API complexity, data migration	"can't connect to X", "migration nightmare", "no API"
5. Performance Pain	Speed, reliability, uptime	"slow", "crashes", "downtime", "buggy"
6. Onboarding Pain	Setup complexity, time-to-value	"took weeks to set up", "steep learning curve"
7. Value Pain	Feature gaps, unmet jobs	"missing X feature", "can't do Y", "not what I needed"

Decision Tree: Choosing Mining Approach

Review Mining Need: [What do you want to learn?]
    |
    +-- Finding pain points in a market?
    |   +-- B2B software? → G2 + Capterra + TrustRadius (resources/source-by-source-extraction.md#b2b)
    |   +-- Consumer app? → App Store + Play Store (resources/source-by-source-extraction.md#b2c)
    |   +-- Developer tool? → GitHub Issues + Stack Overflow + HN (resources/source-by-source-extraction.md#tech)
    |
    +-- Analyzing specific competitors?
    |   +-- Direct comparison? → Competitor Weakness Matrix (templates/competitor-weakness-matrix.md)
    |   +-- Why customers switch? → Switching Trigger Analysis (templates/switching-trigger-analysis.md)
    |   +-- Feature gaps? → Feature Request Aggregator (templates/feature-request-aggregator.md)
    |
    +-- Finding opportunities?
    |   +-- Quick wins (<2 weeks)? → Opportunity Template (templates/opportunity-from-reviews.md#quick-wins)
    |   +-- Medium bets (2-8 weeks)? → Opportunity Template (templates/opportunity-from-reviews.md#medium)
    |   +-- Big differentiation? → Opportunity Template (templates/opportunity-from-reviews.md#big-bets)
    |
    +-- Understanding sentiment?
    |   +-- Real-time complaints? → Twitter/X monitoring (resources/source-by-source-extraction.md#social)
    |   +-- Community opinion? → Reddit + HN (resources/source-by-source-extraction.md#community)
    |   +-- Launch feedback? → ProductHunt (resources/source-by-source-extraction.md#producthunt)
    |
    +-- Comprehensive analysis?
        +-- Full market research? → Review Mining Report (templates/review-mining-report.md)

Review Sources (Complete Guide)

Tier 1: Very High Signal (Start Here)

Source	Type	Best For	How to Access
G2	B2B Reviews	Enterprise software pain	g2.com/products/[name]/reviews
TrustRadius	B2B Reviews	In-depth technical reviews	trustradius.com/products/[name]/reviews
App Store	B2C Reviews	iOS app pain	apps.apple.com + AppFollow/Appbot
Play Store	B2C Reviews	Android app pain	play.google.com + AppFollow/Appbot
GitHub Issues	Developer	Bug patterns, feature requests	github.com/[org]/[repo]/issues
Hacker News	Tech Community	Technical critiques, scalability	news.ycombinator.com + Algolia search
Reddit	Community	Raw unfiltered opinions	reddit.com/r/[subreddit]

Tier 2: High Signal

Source	Type	Best For	How to Access
Capterra	B2B Reviews	SMB software comparisons	capterra.com/p/[id]/[name]/reviews
ProductHunt	Launch Feedback	First impressions, early adopters	producthunt.com/products/[name]
Stack Overflow	Developer	Integration difficulties	stackoverflow.com/questions/tagged/[tag]
Gartner Peer Insights	Enterprise	Enterprise pain, vendor comparisons	gartner.com/reviews/market/[market]
Twitter/X	Social	Real-time complaints	twitter.com/search?q=[product]

Tier 3: Medium Signal

Source	Type	Best For	How to Access
Software Advice	B2B	SMB-focused reviews	softwareadvice.com/[category]
LinkedIn	Professional	B2B complaints, professional sentiment	linkedin.com/feed
Quora	Q&A	Questions = unmet needs	quora.com/topic/[topic]
YouTube Comments	Tutorial	Confusion points, documentation gaps	youtube.com/watch?v=[id]
Public Support Forums	Support	Recurring issues, workarounds	[product].community.com

Navigation: Resources

Extraction Methodology

resources/source-by-source-extraction.md - Platform-specific extraction guides for each source with search queries, filters, and export methods

Analysis Frameworks

resources/pain-categorization-framework.md - 7-dimension pain taxonomy with severity scoring and prioritization
resources/sentiment-analysis-patterns.md - Identifying pain vs praise, detecting intensity, and spotting trends

Competitive Intelligence

resources/competitor-review-comparison.md - Cross-competitor analysis methodology with switching trigger identification

Opportunity Mapping

resources/review-to-opportunity-mapping.md - Converting pain points to actionable product opportunities with ROI estimation

External References

data/sources.json - Review platform URLs, API endpoints, and tool recommendations

Navigation: Templates

Full Reports

templates/review-mining-report.md - Comprehensive mining report with all dimensions

Source-Specific Extraction

templates/b2b-review-extraction.md - B2B software review extraction (G2, Capterra, TrustRadius)
templates/b2c-review-extraction.md - Consumer app review extraction (App Store, Play Store)
templates/community-sentiment.md - Community sentiment analysis (Reddit, HN, ProductHunt)

Competitive Analysis

templates/competitor-weakness-matrix.md - Cross-competitor weakness comparison
templates/switching-trigger-analysis.md - Why customers leave competitors
templates/feature-request-aggregator.md - Unmet needs collection

Pain Analysis

templates/pain-point-extraction-worksheet.md - Structured worksheet for 7-dimension pain extraction

Opportunity Output

templates/opportunity-from-reviews.md - Pain → Opportunity conversion

Related Skills

../software-ux-research/SKILL.md - UI/UX Sibling: UI/UX-specific research (this skill goes broader)
../startup-idea-validation/SKILL.md - Consumer: Uses review mining data for validation scoring
../startup-trend-prediction/SKILL.md - Parallel: Combines with trend data for timing
../router-startup/SKILL.md - Orchestrator: Routes to this skill for pain discovery
../product-management/SKILL.md - Consumer: Uses pain points for discovery and roadmapping

Operational Workflow

Standard Mining Flow

1. SCOPE (Define Target)
   +-- Which product/market to analyze?
   +-- Which competitors to include?
   +-- Time range (last 6-12 months recommended)

2. EXTRACT (Gather Data)
   +-- B2B: G2 → Capterra → TrustRadius
   +-- B2C: App Store → Play Store
   +-- Tech: GitHub → HN → Stack Overflow
   +-- Social: Twitter/X → Reddit → LinkedIn

3. CATEGORIZE (7 Dimensions)
   +-- UI/UX Pain
   +-- Pricing Pain
   +-- Support Pain
   +-- Integration Pain
   +-- Performance Pain
   +-- Onboarding Pain
   +-- Value Pain

4. SCORE (Prioritize)
   +-- Frequency (how often mentioned)
   +-- Severity (how painful)
   +-- Addressability (can we solve it?)

5. MAP (Convert to Opportunities)
   +-- Quick Wins (<2 weeks)
   +-- Medium Bets (2-8 weeks)
   +-- Big Differentiation (8+ weeks)

6. OUTPUT (Deliverable)
   +-- Review Mining Report
   +-- Competitor Weakness Matrix
   +-- Opportunity Backlog

Integration with Validation Pipeline

USER ASKS                              SKILL FLOW
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
"Find opportunities in X market"  → startup-review-mining → Pain Report
                                         ↓
"What's trending?"               → startup-trend-prediction → Timing Analysis
                                         ↓
"Should we build this?"          → startup-idea-validation → GO/NO-GO Score
                                         ↓
"What skills do we need?"        → router-startup → Implementation Path

Turning Insights Into Bets

Convert pains → opportunities using templates/opportunity-from-reviews.md.
Turn opportunities into decisions using:
- ../product-management/templates/strategy/opportunity-assessment.md
- ../startup-idea-validation/templates/validation-experiment-planner.md

Do / Avoid (Dec 2025)

Do

Keep an audit trail (source links, sampling notes, timestamps).
Score insights by frequency × severity × segment importance × addressability.
Triangulate top insights via interviews, support tickets, or usage data.

Avoid

Keyword counting without context or segmentation.
Treating sentiment as demand without willingness-to-pay signals.
Copying competitor feature requests without understanding the underlying job.

What Good Looks Like

Coverage: a defined time window and segment tags (plan documented, not ad-hoc scraping).
Taxonomy: 10–30 themes with frequency + severity, each backed by verbatim quotes and links.
Quality: spot-check a sample of clustered/summarized outputs and log corrections.
Actionability: top themes become hypotheses with experiments and decision thresholds.
Compliance: respect platform terms and detect suspicious/fake-review patterns (audit trail preserved).

Optional: AI / Automation

Use only when explicitly requested and policy-compliant.

Summarization and clustering: require spot-checks and preserve source links.
Automated extraction: log prompts/settings and keep reproducibility notes.

Usage Notes

For Claude: When user asks to "find pain points" or "analyze reviews":

Ask which market/product/competitors to analyze
Use source-by-source-extraction.md for platform-specific queries
Categorize findings into 7 pain dimensions
Score by frequency × severity × addressability
Output using review-mining-report.md template

For Claude: When user asks to "find opportunities":

First extract pain points (above workflow)
Use review-to-opportunity-mapping.md to convert
Categorize into Quick Wins / Medium Bets / Big Differentiation
Feed to startup-idea-validation for scoring

Output Formats:

Pain points: 7-dimension matrix with severity scores
Competitor analysis: Weakness comparison with quote evidence
Opportunities: Prioritized backlog with effort/impact estimates
Switching triggers: Why customers leave (ranked by frequency)

Key Principle: Reviews are the voice of the customer. Mine them systematically.

Install Skill

SKILL.md