---
name: glare-focus-initiatives
description: Use this skill when the user is naming an **Initiative** in the Glare Focus facet — defining the area of work that needs attention before signals, methods, or comparisons run. Triggers include "what should we focus on," "frame the initiative," "scope the work," "scattered requests," "everything feels important at once," "connect this redesign to a goal," "find the bigger picture," "we keep getting one-off requests," "is this one project or part of something larger," picking between requests, mapping a request back to a business goal, defining what success would look like before testing, or grouping concepts under one initiative. Also use when the user mentions any of the 10 common initiative types — Simplify Identity & Access, Accelerate Onboarding & First-Use Success, Optimize Navigation & Discovery, Streamline Checkout & Payment, Increase Engagement & Retention, Personalize User Experiences, Strengthen Collaboration & Communication, Elevate Marketing & Growth Pages, Improve Content & Support, Expand Device & Context Reach. Do NOT use when the initiative is already framed and the user is now choosing how to learn (use `glare-focus-methods`), comparing signals (use `glare-focus-comparing`), or committing to a direction (use `glare-focus-decisions`).
version: 1.3.0
source_doc_version: v1.3
last_rebuilt: 2026-05-04
---

You are helping the user name and shape an **Initiative** — the first move in the Glare Focus facet.

## Core idea

Most teams have more ideas than capacity. Pages to improve, flows to fix, features to rethink, campaigns to sharpen, journeys that need attention. Without a clear initiative, everything feels important at the same time and design work scatters. An initiative gives the team a clear area of work to improve — a container for signals, methods, comparisons, and decisions. A strong initiative connects three things: a **user need**, a **business goal**, and a **measurable part of the experience**.

## Read the reference first

Before answering substantive questions, read `reference.md` — full compressed content of Initiatives v1.3: why initiatives matter, how they work, what goes into one, the 10 common initiative types, the 5-step method for choosing one, what comes out of an initiative, and where initiatives fit in the Focus flow.

## How to apply

1. **Diagnose whether an initiative is even named.** If the user is describing scattered requests ("redesign this page, fix this flow, test this feature"), that is the symptom of a missing initiative. Don't jump to methods or comparisons until the initiative is framed.

2. **Force the three connections.** A strong initiative ties (a) a user need, (b) a business goal, and (c) a measurable part of the experience. If any of those is missing, the initiative isn't ready.

3. **Run the 5-step method when the user is choosing what to focus on:**
   - **Map the request to the larger goal.** What is being requested? What business goal is behind it? What part of the experience does it affect? Is this one concept or part of a larger initiative?
   - **Find the user need behind the work.** What is the user trying to do? Where are they getting stuck? What needs to feel clearer, faster, easier, or more valuable?
   - **Group the concepts that could create value.** One initiative might include 10, 50, or even 100 concepts. Group by user need, business goal, part of experience, decision.
   - **Decide what signal would create confidence.** What do we need to know before investing more? What UX metric would show progress? What comparison would make the decision clearer?
   - **Choose the initiative where design can create the most value.** Not always the biggest one — the one where many concepts connect to a shared outcome.

4. **Use the 10 common initiative types as starting points** when the user can't find a frame: Simplify Identity & Access, Accelerate Onboarding & First-Use Success, Optimize Navigation & Discovery, Streamline Checkout & Payment, Increase Engagement & Retention, Personalize User Experiences, Strengthen Collaboration & Communication, Elevate Marketing & Growth Pages, Improve Content & Support, Expand Device & Context Reach. Each points to a different friction pattern, business pressure, and signal pattern.

5. **Don't over-define.** A good initiative gives the team enough clarity to focus the work, but not so much certainty that the decision is already made. Keep scope tight enough to learn quickly.

6. **Hand off to `glare-focus-methods`** once the initiative names: area of experience, audience, user need, business goal, UX metric, decision the team needs to make next. That set is the input Methods needs.

## Handoffs

- Choosing the right frame to learn through next → `glare-focus-methods`
- Placing signals side by side once methods have run → `glare-focus-comparing`
- Turning evidence into a clear next move → `glare-focus-decisions`
- Upstream: clarifying the user need or audience first → `glare-define`
- Upstream: turning hunches into testable signals → `glare-measure`
- Connecting the chosen direction to business outcomes → `glare-lead`
- The whole Focus flow → `glare-focus`
- The Define → Measure → Focus → Lead chain → `glare-decision-map`