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The Needs Stack: What Your Customer Actually Wants

Needs Stack：客户真正想要的是什么

Nobody's life ambition is to buy your product. Whatever your product does, it is a means to an end — and that end is a means to a higher end, and so on, up a ladder this method calls the Needs Stack. Mapping the stack tells you who your real alternatives are (not just your competitors), what outcome you may honestly promise, which steps you should brag about making obsolete, and where your company's higher purpose lives. This skill builds that map with the user: anchor the level the product satisfies, walk down, then walk up — one level per exchange, each level crystallized before the next.
没有人的人生目标是购买你的产品。无论你的产品能做什么，它都只是实现某个目标的手段——而这个目标又是实现更高目标的手段，以此类推，形成一个被称为Needs Stack的层级结构。绘制这个栈能让你了解谁是真正的替代者（不只是竞争对手）、你能诚实地承诺什么成果、哪些步骤你可以吹嘘已使其过时，以及公司的更高使命所在。本技能会与用户协作构建这个图谱：先锚定产品满足的层级，向下梳理，再向上梳理——每次交互处理一个层级，确认每个层级后再进入下一层。

The mental model

思维模型

A worked stack

示例栈

Charlie signs up for AWS to buy cloud infrastructure — servers, storage, network. But "buy infrastructure" isn't what Charlie wants; it's an obstacle in the way of the WordPress website Charlie actually wants. And a WordPress site isn't the end either: it's a means to a personal website for content and self-promotion. Which is itself a means: Charlie really wants a book deal, and the way to get one is to have built an online following first. Written as a stack, top ends above bottom means:
  • ★ Get a book deal.
  • → Have a personal website for content and self-promotion.
  • → Set up a WordPress website.
  • → Buy infrastructure.
Every level is real, every level has vendors serving it (Substack and social media at the following level; Wix, Squarespace, and Webflow at the website level; WP Engine at the WordPress level; AWS, GCP, and Azure at the infrastructure level), and every level is only a means to the one above it.
Charlie注册AWS以购买云基础设施——服务器、存储、网络。但“购买基础设施”并不是Charlie真正想要的；这只是他搭建WordPress网站过程中的一个障碍。而WordPress网站也不是最终目标：它是搭建用于内容创作和自我推广的个人网站的手段。这本身也是一种手段：Charlie真正想要的是获得出书合约，而实现这一目标的途径是先建立线上粉丝群体。用栈的形式呈现，上层是目标，下层是手段：
  • ★ 获得出书合约。
  • → 拥有用于内容创作和自我推广的个人网站。
  • → 搭建WordPress网站。
  • → 购买基础设施。
每个层级都是真实存在的，每个层级都有服务提供者（粉丝群体层级有Substack和社交媒体；网站层级有Wix、Squarespace和Webflow；WordPress层级有WP Engine；基础设施层级有AWS、GCP和Azure），且每个层级都只是实现上一层级目标的手段。

The obviation rule

过时规则（Obviation rule）

A product that satisfies a need in the stack makes the products below it obsolete for that customer. Charlie never wanted infrastructure and still doesn't — so a company that delivers a working WordPress site without the customer ever touching infrastructure wins Charlie, and the infrastructure vendors never even see Charlie. Charlie disappears from that market. This is why the stack matters competitively: the vendors one level above you are not your competitors (they don't sell what you sell) but they are your alternatives — they can remove your customer from your market entirely. Ask a vendor who their competitors are and they'll name the other vendors at their own level; the stack reveals the alternatives above, which is where disruption actually comes from.
满足栈中某一需求的产品会使该层级以下的产品对该客户而言变得过时。Charlie从来就不想要基础设施，现在也不想要——因此，一家能直接交付可用WordPress网站、无需客户接触基础设施的公司会赢得Charlie的青睐，而基础设施供应商根本不会有机会接触到Charlie。Charlie从那个市场中消失了。这就是栈在竞争层面的重要性：位于你上一层级的供应商不是你的竞争对手（他们不卖你所卖的产品），但他们是你的替代者——他们可以将你的客户完全从你的市场中带走。问一个供应商谁是他们的竞争对手，他们会说出同一层级的其他供应商；而栈揭示了上层的替代者，这正是颠覆性力量的来源。

The trade-off between high and low

高低层级的权衡

Higher levels offer the shortest path to the goal; lower levels offer flexibility and customization. An all-in-one product gets the customer to the outcome fastest but constrains them to its fixed menu; building from lower-level parts takes longer but bends to any requirement. This is why a level being "obviated" doesn't kill the vendors below it — customers who need the flexibility still buy low. It's also each level's standing defense against the level above: name what your customer keeps by buying at your level.
高层级提供实现目标的最短路径；低层级提供灵活性和定制化。一体化产品能最快让客户获得结果，但会限制他们只能使用其固定功能；从低层级组件构建虽然耗时更长，但能满足任何需求。这就是为什么某一层级被“过时”并不会消灭下层供应商——需要灵活性的客户仍会购买低层级产品。这也是每个层级抵御上层层级的核心优势：明确客户选择你的层级能保留什么。

The trap: stopping at your own level

陷阱：停留在自己的层级

Everyone wants to stop mapping when they reach the level they operate on — "we sell websites, and customers want websites, done." There is always another level up, and the levels above yours are exactly the ones that determine what you may promise and who can obviate you. Keep climbing until the stack tops out.
每个人都想在到达自己产品所在的层级时停止绘制——“我们卖网站，客户想要网站，搞定。”但总会有更高的层级，而你上层的层级恰恰决定了你能承诺什么，以及谁能让你变得过时。继续向上梳理直到栈到达顶层。

Where the stack tops out: purpose levels

栈的顶层：Purpose levels（目标层级）

High enough, the needs stop being product-shaped: recognition, ego, legacy, self-actualization. No product satisfies these directly (some would argue meditation and therapy come closest). Record one or two of these purpose levels and mark them: they are not promises and not markets, but they are the raw material for the company's higher purpose — the true stories worth telling on the website and celebrating internally when a customer actually gets there.
足够高的层级，需求不再是产品形态的：认可、自我实现、遗产、自我成就。没有产品能直接满足这些需求（有人认为冥想和治疗最接近）。记录一到两个这样的Purpose levels并标记：它们不是承诺，也不是市场，但它们是公司更高使命的素材——是网站上值得讲述的真实故事，也是当客户真正达成目标时内部值得庆祝的内容。

What each level is for downstream

每个层级对下游的作用

Positioning consumes the stack by role, relative to the user's level:
  • Your level — what you do. Features live here. A customer whose current thought (and search query) is at this level wants specs and features, not lifestyle benefits — a builder searching for a 5/16" socket wrench does not want to be told the light "helps you see."
  • One level up — what you promise. The outcome you claim as the consequence of what you do. This is the strongest honest benefit.
  • Levels far above — aspirations. Never promise them; show the part you play in them, with testimonials and how-to content proving it's possible.
  • Levels above, held by others — counter-positioning. The vendors there are obviating you; answer with what the customer keeps by buying at your level (flexibility, customization, uniqueness).
  • Levels below — advancements. Brag that you make these steps obsolete: no time spent, nothing to manage, nothing to learn.
The stack also picks your most strategic metric — measure whether customers succeed one level up from you, not just whether your product delivered (a store-builder can deliver a perfect store whose owner sells nothing and churns; the vendor that measures its customers' sales sees the truth) — and it warns against the tempting pivot: moving your product up a level is usually a different product, a different business, and a smaller market. Partial climbs (vertical sub-brands, add-on features, content that helps with the next level) are the realistic versions.
定位会根据相对于用户层级的角色来利用这个栈：
  • 你的层级 —— 你所做的事。功能就位于这里。当前想法（和搜索查询）处于这个层级的客户想要的是规格和功能，而不是生活方式收益——一个寻找5/16英寸套筒扳手的工匠不想听到“帮助你看清”这样的话。
  • 上一层级 —— 你承诺的内容。你声称的、作为你所做之事的结果的成果。这是最有力的真实收益。
  • 更高层级 —— 愿景。永远不要承诺这些；展示你在其中扮演的角色，用客户证言和实操内容证明其可行性。
  • 其他供应商所在的上层层级 —— 反定位。这些供应商正在使你变得过时；回应时要说明客户选择你的层级能保留什么（灵活性、定制化、独特性）。
  • 下层层级 —— 进步。吹嘘你使这些步骤变得过时：无需花费时间、无需管理、无需学习。
栈还能帮你选择最具战略意义的指标——衡量客户是否在你的上一层级取得成功，而不只是衡量你的产品是否交付（一个搭建店铺的供应商可能交付了一个完美的店铺，但店主什么都没卖就流失了；而衡量客户销售额的供应商才能看到真相）——它还能警告你不要做出诱人的转型：将产品提升一个层级通常意味着不同的产品、不同的业务，以及更小的市场。部分提升（垂直子品牌、附加功能、帮助实现下一层级的内容）是更现实的选择。

Whose stack it is

这是谁的栈

A stack belongs to one kind of customer. Different customers climbing through the same product diverge at higher levels — an agency, a hobbyist, and an e-commerce store may all "set up a website" for entirely different ends. Build the stack for the ideal customer — the one the business most wants to win. And when a sale has two heads (the buyer and the user are different people, common in business software), each may need their own stack; both can decide the sale.
一个栈属于一类客户。不同的客户在使用同一产品时，在更高层级会出现分歧——代理商、爱好者和电商店铺可能都“搭建网站”，但目的完全不同。为理想客户构建栈——即企业最想赢得的客户。当销售涉及两个决策方（买家和用户不同，在企业软件中很常见）时，双方可能都需要各自的栈；两者都能决定销售结果。

Vocabulary

词汇表

  • Level (N1, N2, …) — one need, phrased as the customer's goal; numbered in the order settled (numbers are frozen; position in the file carries stack order).
  • Your level — the need the user's product satisfies; the anchor.
  • Obviation — a higher-level product making lower levels irrelevant for that customer.
  • Occupants — who serves a level today: vendors, products, DIY methods, agencies. Real names.
  • Purpose level — a top level no product satisfies directly; material for meaning, not marketing promises.
  • Level（层级）(N1, N2, …) —— 一个需求，用客户的目标表述；按确定的顺序编号（编号固定；文件中的位置代表栈的顺序）。
  • Your level（你的层级） —— 用户的产品所满足的需求；锚点。
  • Obviation（过时效应） —— 高层级产品使低层级对该客户而言无关紧要。
  • Occupants（服务提供者） —— 当前服务该层级的主体：供应商、产品、DIY方法、代理商。需注明真实名称。
  • Purpose level（目标层级） —— 没有产品能直接满足的顶层；是意义的素材，而非营销承诺。

The elicitor's posture

引导者的姿态

Be clear, not clever

清晰直白，而非故作聪明

Write to be understood, not admired. The work here wrestles with hard concepts, and clever metaphors, wordplay, or cute turns of phrase make them harder to grasp, not easier. Say plainly what you mean. If a sentence reads more clearly without a flourish, cut the flourish. State the actual point rather than gesturing wittily at it.
写作是为了让人理解，而非让人赞赏。这里的工作涉及复杂的概念，巧妙的隐喻、文字游戏或俏皮的表达会让它们更难理解，而不是更容易。直白地说出你的意思。如果去掉修饰后句子更清晰，就删掉修饰。直接陈述实际观点，而非巧妙地暗示。

Restate references; never cite a bare token

重述引用内容；永远不要只引用标记

When you mention a numbered or lettered item to the user — K4, W2, O17, H3, and the like — add a few plain words on what it actually is ("K4 — the owner whose career rides on the site"). A bare token is unreadable to a human who saw it defined hours or days ago: the tag is for traceability, the gloss is for comprehension. Keep the tag for accuracy; always add the gloss.
当你向用户提及编号或字母标记的内容（如K4、W2、O17、H3等）时，要补充几句直白的话说明它是什么（“K4——职业生涯依赖于该网站的店主”）。对于几天前看过定义的人来说，单纯的标记是难以理解的：标记用于追溯，解释用于理解。保留标记以确保准确性；始终添加解释。

One level per exchange, crystallized before moving

每次交互处理一个层级，确认后再推进

The walk is strictly paced: anchor the user's own level first, then one level per exchange — downward until the levels stop mattering, then upward until the purpose levels. A level is settled only when it passes the crystallization gate below; do not sketch the whole stack up front and refine later (if the user asks for exactly that, decline in substance: a ladder of unvetted levels is a brainstorm, not a map, and each level is built on the one before it — offer instead to propose the candidates at every level so the user mostly confirms and corrects), and do not accept "and above that, obviously, success" as a level. Propose candidate phrasings AND candidate occupants yourself freely — the user knows their customer; the outside perspective helps find the honest phrasing and remember who else sells at a level — but the user confirms every level. A level heard out of order ("they want to win cases" volunteered during the anchor) is parked in chat and takes its number only when the walk reaches it and it settles.
梳理过程严格按节奏进行：先锚定用户自己的层级，然后每次交互处理一个层级——向下直到层级不再重要，然后向上直到目标层级。一个层级只有通过以下确认标准后才算确定；不要预先勾勒整个栈然后再细化（如果用户明确要求这样做，要实质拒绝：未经验证的层级组成的栈只是头脑风暴，而非图谱，每个层级都建立在前一个层级之上——相反，要主动提出每个层级的候选表述和候选服务提供者，用户只需确认和修正即可），也不要接受“显然，再往上就是成功”这样的层级。主动提出候选表述和候选服务提供者——用户了解他们的客户；外部视角有助于找到真实的表述并记住该层级的其他服务提供者——但每个层级都需用户确认。如果在锚定过程中用户主动提到某个层级（比如“他们想赢得案件”），要先在聊天中记录下来，只有当梳理到该层级并确认后才给它编号。

The crystallization gate

确认标准

Every level must pass four tests before the walk moves on:
  1. Customer's words, customer's goal. Phrased as a need the customer would state — "set up a WordPress website," not the vendor's category ("managed hosting") and not a generic gesture ("grow their business" — whose growth, through what?). Generic words (success, efficiency, value, scale) get pressed into the specific picture the customer actually holds.
  2. A true means-to-an-end link. The test: if this level were handed to the customer fully satisfied, would they happily never touch the level below? If they would still want the lower level for its own sake, the link is wrong — the levels aren't stacked, or a middle level is missing.
  3. Named occupants. Who serves this level today — vendors, products, methods, agencies, by name. Occupants are what make a level operational: they are the alternatives and the counter-positioning targets. A mid-stack level with no nameable occupant is suspect — usually two levels blurred together or a level invented to flatter the product. (Purpose levels are the exception: mark them instead.)
  4. A real step, not a reword. Distinct from its neighbors: if satisfying one level automatically satisfies the other with nothing left over, they are one level, merged.
Two scope notes. When descending, the means-to-end test points upward — it verifies the already-settled level above the new one (handed that fulfilled, would they skip this new lower step?); a brand-new bottom level's own downward link isn't testable until the next descent, and that's fine. And purpose levels are exempt from test 3 only: tests 2 and 4 still apply, and test 1 applies in personalized form — "recognition" and "legacy" are recorded as this customer's specific version of them ("be known in town for her beer," "promotion to VP, and evenings back"), never as bare abstractions.
每个层级在推进到下一层之前必须通过四项测试：
  1. 客户的语言，客户的目标。用客户会表述的需求来措辞——比如“搭建WordPress网站”，而不是供应商的分类（“托管主机”）或通用表述（“发展业务”——谁的业务，通过什么方式？）。通用词汇（成功、效率、价值、规模）要转化为客户实际持有的具体场景。
  2. 真实的手段-目标关联。测试方法：如果这个层级的需求完全满足客户，他们还会想要下一层级的内容吗？如果他们仍然出于自身原因想要下一层级的内容，那么关联就是错误的——这些层级不是栈式结构，或者缺少中间层级。
  3. 明确的服务提供者（Occupants）。当前服务该层级的主体是谁——供应商、产品、方法、代理商，需注明真实名称。服务提供者是使层级具备可操作性的关键：他们是替代者和反定位的目标。中间层级如果没有可命名的服务提供者则值得怀疑——通常是两个层级被混淆，或是为了美化产品而虚构的层级。（目标层级除外：只需标记即可。）
  4. 真实的步骤，而非重新措辞。与相邻层级不同：如果满足一个层级自动满足另一个层级且没有剩余内容，那么它们是同一个层级，需合并。
两个范围说明。当向下梳理时，手段-目标测试是向上的——它验证已确定的上一层级（如果上一层级完全满足，他们会跳过这个新的下一层级吗？）；全新的底层级自身的向下关联要到下一次向下梳理时才能测试，这没关系。另外，目标层级仅豁免测试3：测试2和4仍然适用，测试1以个性化形式适用——“认可”和“遗产”要记录为该客户的具体版本（“在镇上因她的啤酒而出名”，“晋升为副总裁，有更多时间陪伴家人”），而非抽象概念。

The user owns the customer; the gate owns the wording

用户掌握客户信息；确认标准掌握措辞

Whether their customer really climbs this way, what the customer actually wants, which persona is ideal — the user's knowledge, and their call stands after one honest press. But the gate is not theirs to waive: a level that fails a test is not recorded in the stack in any form, however insisted; there is always a compliant phrasing of what the user actually means, and finding it is the work. When the user defends a phrasing by appeal to market knowledge ("that IS what the customer wants — the board approved this language"), separate the two out loud: the want is theirs and stands; the words are the gate's, and vendor phrasing never enters the file. Tone stays warm; the bar does not move. One escape hatch: if, after the trap is explained once, the user still declines to climb further, don't stall the whole exercise — finalize with an explicit caveat in the preamble ("stack incomplete — stopped below the purpose levels at the user's request") so the file is honest about what it is.
客户是否真的按这个路径梳理、客户真正想要什么、哪个角色是理想的——这些是用户的知识，经过一次坦诚的沟通后，用户的决定为准。但确认标准不能放宽：未通过测试的层级不能以任何形式记录到栈中，无论用户如何坚持；用户真正想表达的内容总有符合标准的措辞，找到它就是我们的工作。当用户以市场知识为理由为某种措辞辩护时（“这就是客户想要的——董事会批准了这个表述”），要明确区分：需求由用户决定并保留；措辞需符合确认标准，供应商的措辞永远不能进入文件。语气要友好，但标准不能降低。一个例外情况：如果在解释过陷阱后，用户仍拒绝继续向上梳理，不要拖延整个流程——在序言中添加明确的警告（“栈不完整——应用户要求，在到达目标层级前停止”），确保文件如实反映其状态。

The closing press

最终检查

Before finalizing, attack the whole stack once. If a devil's-advocate interrogation skill is installed in the environment (for example Rude Q&A / 
asb-rude-qa
, from the same author as this method), invoke it against the draft stack with this brief: attack this needs stack — find every level phrased in vendor language or generic words; every means-to-end link that fails the "handed to them fulfilled, would they skip the level below?" test; every level with no real occupants that isn't a purpose level; every adjacent pair that is one level reworded; and check the top — did they stop climbing at their own level or one polite step above it? If no such skill is available, run exactly that interrogation yourself, visibly, before finalizing.
在定稿前，对整个栈进行一次审查。如果环境中安装了魔鬼代言人式的审查技能（例如同一作者的Rude Q&A / 
asb-rude-qa
），请调用它对草稿栈进行审查，要求如下：*审查这个Needs Stack——找出所有用供应商语言或通用词汇表述的层级；所有未通过“完全满足后，他们会跳过下一层级吗？”测试的手段-目标关联；所有非目标层级但没有真实服务提供者的层级；所有是同一层级重新措辞的相邻层级；并检查顶层——他们是停留在自己的层级还是礼貌地向上多走了一步？*如果没有这样的技能，要自己进行完全相同的审查，然后再定稿。

How to use this skill

如何使用本技能

Phase A — Ingest and anchor

A阶段——导入与锚定

Optional inputs, worth asking for once. The stack is anchored to a specific customer, so ask (in the same breath: paths to the files, and the company/product name for the file title) whether the user has: an ideal-customer definition (a file defining the customer by behavioral and circumstantial markers — often with numbered keystones, deal-breakers, and inciting events); customer-interview findings; a keystones chart. Read whatever exists — the ideal customer named there is whose stack this is, interview quotes are gold for phrasing levels in the customer's words, and keystones sharpen the "why your level still wins" lines. If none exist, say plainly that the stack will be sharper with them (and that an ideal-customer method from this skill's author produces the definition — 
asb-carol-define
is the final step, if installed), then proceed anyway: press for a one-or-two-line sketch of the ideal customer — who they are by circumstance and behavior, not demographics; the press repeats until the sketch is genuinely sharp, since a vague anchor bends every level above it — and record it in the preamble as the anchor, caveated as unvetted. Record absences too ("no ideal-customer definition, interviews, or keystones chart exist"), so a resumed session doesn't re-ask.
Resume check. If a 
NEEDS-STACK.md
already exists at the target location, read it first: an in-progress header means resume — pick up exactly where the pointer says, don't re-litigate settled levels. A finalized file means ask whether to revise or to build a second persona's stack. When the user says "continue" but no file is found where expected, ask where it lives before starting fresh.
Anchor your level. Ask what the product does, then convert it: the anchor level is the customer's need, not the product's category. "We sell managed Postgres hosting" anchors as "have a production database that runs itself." Run the crystallization gate on it — including occupants: the user plus their direct competitors. This is N1. Create 
NEEDS-STACK.md
as soon as N1 settles — in the same directory as any input file; with no input file, ask where the method's files should live before creating it (default: the current directory) — with the in-progress header.
可选输入，值得询问一次。栈锚定到特定客户，因此要询问（同时询问文件路径和公司/产品名称以确定文件标题）用户是否有：理想客户定义（通过行为和环境特征定义客户的文件——通常包含关键指标、否决因素和触发事件）；客户访谈结果；关键指标图表。读取所有可用内容——其中提到的理想客户就是本次构建的栈所属的客户，访谈引述是用客户语言表述层级的宝贵素材，关键指标能明确“为什么你的层级仍然有优势”的表述。如果没有这些内容，要直白地说明有这些内容会让栈更清晰（并且同一作者的理想客户方法能生成这个定义——如果已安装，
asb-carol-define
是最终步骤），然后继续推进：要求用户用一到两句话描述理想客户——按环境和行为描述，而非人口统计特征；反复确认直到描述足够清晰，因为模糊的锚点会影响所有上层层级——并将其记录在序言中作为锚点，注明未验证。也要记录缺失的内容（“无理想客户定义、访谈或关键指标图表”），以便后续会话不会重复询问。
恢复检查。如果目标位置已存在
NEEDS-STACK.md
文件，要先读取：如果有进行中的标题，说明要恢复——完全从指针指示的位置继续，不要重新讨论已确定的层级。如果是已定稿的文件，要询问用户是要修订还是为第二个角色构建栈。当用户说“继续”但未在预期位置找到文件时，要先询问文件位置再重新开始。
锚定你的层级。询问产品的功能，然后转化：锚点层级是客户的需求，而非产品的分类。例如“我们销售托管Postgres主机”锚定为“拥有可自行运行的生产数据库”。对其进行确认标准测试——包括服务提供者：用户及其直接竞争对手。这就是N1。一旦N1确定，立即创建
NEEDS-STACK.md
文件——与任何输入文件在同一目录；如果没有输入文件，要先询问方法文件应存放在哪里再创建（默认：当前目录）——并添加进行中的标题。

Phase B — Walk down

B阶段——向下梳理

One level per exchange: what would the customer have to do or buy below this level if your product didn't handle it? Each level down gets the full gate, plus its role line: an advancement — a step you make obsolete, and should say so. Stop descending when the next level down no longer matters to the purchase — the test: would any buyer weigh it when choosing among the occupants at your level, and would your positioning ever mention it? Both no = stop (below "buy infrastructure" lies "have electricity" — real, but nobody's positioning mentions it). One or two levels down is typical. Note the stop and its reasoning in the header pointer while in progress, so a resumed session knows the descent is complete.
每次交互处理一个层级：如果你的产品不处理这个需求，客户必须做什么或购买什么才能满足？每个下层层级都要经过完整的确认标准测试，并添加角色说明：进步——你使其过时的步骤，应该对此进行宣传。当下一层级不再影响购买时停止向下梳理——测试方法：任何买家在选择你所在层级的服务提供者时会考虑它吗？你的定位会提到它吗？两者都为否则停止（“购买基础设施”之下是“有电”——真实存在，但没人会在定位中提到它）。通常向下梳理一到两个层级即可。在进行中的标题指针中记录停止的位置及原因，以便恢复会话时知道向下梳理已完成。

Phase C — Walk up

C阶段——向上梳理

One level per exchange, starting from the anchor: is that the customer's life ambition? Means to what end? Each level up gets the full gate, plus its role lines: the first level up is the promise; levels above that are aspirations; every occupied level above notes why your level still wins for your ideal customer (the flexibility, customization, or uniqueness they keep). Keep climbing past the comfortable stopping point — the trap is stopping at or just above your own level. The walk ends when the levels stop being product-shaped: record one or two purpose levels, marked as such.
Where the market genuinely diverges at some height — different ideal customers climbing to different ends — don't average them into one vague level; note the divergence and offer a second stack for the other persona (Phase D).
Record to the file as you go. Write each level into the file at its stack position the moment it settles — settle order and stack order differ, so this is placement, not appending to the bottom — and keep the header pointer current: anchored, walked down through (and whether the descent is complete), walked up through, currently crystallizing. When a level is in flight — candidates proposed, nothing settled — put the candidate phrasings in the pointer too: the not-recorded-in-any-form rule protects the stack body, not the resume pointer, and a resumed session shouldn't lose work the user already reacted to. The file is the memory, not the chat. If files aren't accessible, re-emit the full draft in a fenced block every level or two.
每次交互处理一个层级，从锚点开始：*这是客户的人生目标吗？是实现什么目标的手段？*每个上层层级都要经过完整的确认标准测试，并添加角色说明：上一层是承诺；更上层是愿景；每个有服务提供者的上层层级要说明为什么你的层级对理想客户仍然有优势（他们保留的灵活性、定制化或独特性）。要越过舒适的停止点继续向上梳理——陷阱就是停留在自己的层级或仅向上一步。当层级不再是产品形态时停止梳理：记录一到两个目标层级并标记。
如果市场在某个高度真的出现分歧——不同的理想客户有不同的目标——不要将它们平均成一个模糊的层级；要记录分歧并提出为另一个角色构建第二个栈（D阶段）。
随时记录到文件中。一旦确定每个层级，立即将其写入文件的相应位置——确定顺序和栈顺序不同，因此这是放置，而非追加到底部——并保持标题指针更新：已锚定、向下梳理到（以及是否完成，停止原因）、向上梳理到、当前正在确认。如果某个层级正在讨论中——已提出候选表述但未确定——要将候选表述也放入指针中：不记录到栈主体的规则适用于栈主体，而非恢复指针，恢复会话不应丢失用户已反馈的内容。文件是记忆，而非聊天。如果无法访问文件，每隔一到两个层级就在代码块中重新输出完整草稿。

Phase D — Sweep and close

D阶段——全面检查与收尾

  • The closing press (delegated or self-run, per the posture). It covers every stack in the file, and it audits — it does not reopen settled pacing: fixes it surfaces are patched inline with the user's confirmation, under the frozen numbers.
  • Role check. Every level carries its role annotation; each stack's anchor and promise level are unambiguous.
  • Second stack? If the sale has two heads (buyer vs. user) or a second ideal persona surfaced, offer to walk that stack now — numbering continues (no reuse), in its own section, with the full protocol (its own anchor marked YOU ARE HERE, its own down-check, its own promise level, the same gates). If the user defers it, record the divergence in Next steps ("the economic buyer may climb a different stack; numbering would continue from N<next>") so it isn't lost.
  • Finalize: remove the in-progress header, write the "Uses beyond positioning" and "Next steps" sections (they are finalization content, not built during the walk), and close with the handoff: the stack's levels are the skeleton of positioning — what you say at each level and what you promise one level up. If a positioning skill from this method's author is installed (for example Positioning / 
    asb-positioning
    ), name it: "when you're ready, run 
    asb-positioning
    on your marketing copy with this file."
  • 最终检查（委托或自行进行，按姿态要求）。检查文件中的所有栈，进行审核——不重新讨论已确定的节奏：发现的问题要在用户确认后直接修改，保留固定编号。
  • 角色检查。每个层级都有角色注释；每个栈的锚点和承诺层级都明确无误。
  • **第二个栈？**如果销售涉及两个决策方（买家 vs 用户）或出现第二个理想角色，要提出现在为其梳理栈——编号继续（不重复），放在单独的部分，遵循完整流程（标记自己的层级为YOU ARE HERE，自己的向下检查，自己的承诺层级，相同的确认标准）。如果用户推迟，要在下一步中记录分歧（“经济买家可能有不同的栈；编号将从N<下一个>开始”）以免遗漏。
  • 定稿：移除进行中的标题，写入“定位之外的用途”和“下一步”部分（这些是定稿内容，而非梳理过程中构建的），并完成交接：栈的层级是定位的框架——在每个层级说什么，承诺上一层级的内容。如果已安装同一作者的定位技能（例如Positioning / 
    asb-positioning
    ），要提及：“准备好后，使用此文件运行
    asb-positioning
    处理你的营销文案。”

The file structure

文件结构

markdown
undefined
markdown
undefined

Needs Stack — <company / product>

Needs Stack — <公司/产品>

⚠️ IN PROGRESS — anchored at N1; walked down: <N-numbers, and whether the descent is complete, with the stop reasoning>; walked up: <N-numbers settled so far>; currently crystallizing: <the level in flight — include any candidate phrasings proposed but not yet settled>. <If the walk is done and the sweep isn't: "walk complete; closing press / role check / finalization remaining."> <If a second stack is in flight, say which stack and where.> If you are resuming, continue there. (This note is removed at finalization.)
<Two or three lines: whose stack this is — the ideal-customer definition file it anchors to, or the confirmed customer sketch — and the product. Levels are numbered in settle order; position in the list below carries the stack order, top ends before bottom means.>
⚠️ 进行中 —— 锚定在N1；向下梳理：<N编号，以及是否完成，停止原因>；向上梳理：<已确定的N编号>；当前正在确认：<正在讨论的层级——包括已提出但未确定的候选表述>。<如果梳理完成但未检查：“梳理完成；待最终检查/角色检查/定稿。”><如果第二个栈正在进行中，说明是哪个栈及位置。>如果恢复会话，请从此处继续。（定稿时移除本说明。）
<两到三句话：此栈所属的客户——锚定的理想客户定义文件，或已确认的客户描述——以及产品。层级按确定顺序编号；以下列表中的位置代表栈的顺序，上层目标在前，下层手段在后。>

The stack

需求栈

N5. ★ <purpose level> — purpose level: no product satisfies this directly; material for higher-purpose stories, never for promises.
N4. → <aspiration level> Occupants: <who serves this level, by name> Role: aspiration — show the part you play; never promise it. Why your level still wins for your ideal customer: <what they keep>.
N3. → <one level up> Occupants: <…> Role: the promise — the outcome claimed as a consequence of N1. Why your level still wins for your ideal customer: <what they keep>.
N1. → <your level> ← YOU ARE HERE Occupants: you; <direct competitors, by name>. Role: what you do — features live here; meet searchers where they are.
N2. → <one level down> Occupants: <…> Role: advancement — a step you make obsolete; brag about it.
N5. ★ <目标层级> —— Purpose level：没有产品能直接满足；是更高使命故事的素材，永远不能作为承诺。
N4. → <愿景层级> Occupants：<服务该层级的主体，注明真实名称> Role：愿景——展示你扮演的角色；永远不要承诺。 为什么你的层级对理想客户仍然有优势：<他们保留的内容>。
N3. → <上一层级> Occupants：<…> Role：承诺——作为N1结果的成果。 为什么你的层级对理想客户仍然有优势：<他们保留的内容>。
N1. → <你的层级> ← YOU ARE HERE Occupants：你；<直接竞争对手，注明真实名称>。 Role：你所做的事——功能位于此处；满足搜索者的需求。
N2. → <下一层级> Occupants：<…> Role：进步——你使其过时的步骤；对此进行宣传。

<Second persona> stack (only if the sale has more than one head)

<第二个角色>栈（仅当销售涉及多个决策方时）

<Same structure; numbering continues from the first stack.>
<相同结构；编号从第一个栈继续。>

Uses beyond positioning

定位之外的用途

<Two or three lines: measure success one level up from what you deliver; the purpose levels are where the company's higher purpose lives; moving your product up a level is a different business — partial climbs (verticals, add-ons, helpful content) are the realistic versions.>
<两到三句话：衡量成功的标准是上一层级的成果，而非你交付的内容；目标层级是公司更高使命所在；将产品提升一个层级通常意味着不同的业务——部分提升（垂直领域、附加功能、有用内容）是更现实的选择。>

Next steps

下一步

<Two or three sentences of prose: the stack feeds positioning — talk features at your level, promise the level above, reference aspirations without promising, brag about the levels you obviate — and the method continues by converting your actual marketing copy level by level. Name the positioning skill if installed.>

N-numbers are stable once written — downstream positioning statements
cite them. Never renumber; a level inserted later takes the next
fresh number and its place in the list. Stability binds the number
and the level's meaning, not its letter-for-letter wording: while the
file is in progress, wording may be refined under a frozen number
with the user's confirmation (the closing press often does this);
after finalization, changes append rather than rewrite.
<两到三句话：栈为定位提供素材——在你的层级谈论功能，承诺上一层级的内容，提及愿景但不承诺，宣传你已使其过时的层级——方法的下一步是根据此栈转换你的实际营销文案。如果已安装定位技能，请注明。>

N编号一旦写入就保持稳定——下游定位语句会引用它们。永远不要重新编号；之后插入的层级使用下一个新编号并放在列表中的相应位置。稳定性绑定编号和层级的含义，而非逐字措辞：文件进行中，经用户确认后可在固定编号下优化措辞（最终检查通常会这样做）；定稿后，修改内容要追加而非重写。

Refusal conditions

拒绝条件

  • No idea who the customer is. A stack without a customer is a guess. Press for at least a sharp sketch (circumstance and behavior); recommend the ideal-customer work; caveat the file if proceeding on a sketch.
  • Vendor-language or generic levels, however insisted. "Leverage our platform" and "achieve success" never enter the file; the customer's actual goal, in words the customer would say, always exists and is the only recordable form.
  • Stopping at the user's own level. The levels above are the point — the walk continues past comfort until purpose levels.
  • A stack averaged across divergent customers. When personas genuinely split, one blurred stack describes nobody; build per persona.
  • Skipping crystallization to sketch the whole ladder at once. A stack of uncrystallized levels is a brainstorm, not a map; the gate runs per level, in order.
  • Writing the positioning itself. Converting copy, statements, and pitches against this stack is the next step of the method, not this one; this file ends at roles and the handoff.
  • 不知道客户是谁。没有客户的栈只是猜测。要求至少提供清晰的描述（环境和行为）；推荐理想客户的相关工作；如果基于描述推进，要在文件中注明警告。
  • 坚持使用供应商语言或通用层级。“利用我们的平台”和“取得成功”永远不能进入文件；客户的实际目标、用客户的语言表述的内容才是唯一可记录的形式。
  • 停留在用户自己的层级。上层层级才是关键——要越过舒适区继续梳理直到目标层级。
  • 为不同客户平均构建的栈。当角色真正出现分歧时，一个模糊的栈无法描述任何客户；要为每个角色单独构建。
  • 跳过确认步骤预先勾勒整个栈。未确认的层级组成的栈只是头脑风暴，而非图谱；确认标准要按层级、按顺序执行。
  • 直接撰写定位内容。根据此栈转换文案、声明和宣传语是方法的下一步，而非本技能的工作；本文件在角色说明和交接后结束。