Dt Methods — Agent Skill by Microsoft

From the author

Design Thinking method coaching knowledge across all nine methods including per-method techniques, deep expertise, and industry context (energy, financial services, healthcare, manufacturing, nonprofit and social impact, pharmaceuticals and life sciences, professional services, public sector, retail and CPG)

— the description by Microsoft

AutoGineer summary

Written by AutoGineer from the skill’s own files, not by the author

The dt-methods skill provides a structured reference system for AI agents to coach teams through the Design Thinking process. It organizes guidance into three layers: core method references for day-to-day activities, deep references for advanced facilitation and recovery, and industry-specific context to tailor vocabulary and constraints. The skill covers nine major industries, including energy, healthcare, and financial services, ensuring that coaching is grounded in the specific operational realities and regulatory environments of the user's sector.

What it does

Provides step-by-step guidance for nine core Design Thinking methods.
Offers advanced facilitation techniques and recovery strategies for complex scenarios.
Maps Design Thinking concepts to industry-specific terminology and constraints.
Integrates telemetry expectations for session artifacts to ensure observable outcomes.
Supplies industry-specific empathy tools and stakeholder considerations.
Supports tailoring of coaching based on the active method and identified industry context.

When to use it

When facilitating a Design Thinking session and requiring method-specific guidance.
When a team needs advanced troubleshooting or recovery techniques during a workshop.
When applying Design Thinking within a specific industry to ensure relevant vocabulary and constraints are respected.
When defining telemetry or audit trails for Design Thinking session artifacts.

Advantages

Ensures consistent coaching across the entire Design Thinking lifecycle.
Reduces friction by using industry-appropriate language and concepts.
Provides a clear path for scaling from basic methods to advanced facilitation.
Integrates operational and regulatory awareness into the design process.

Usage examples

“How should I facilitate a brainstorming session for a team in the energy sector?”: The agent will load the brainstorming method reference and the energy industry context, providing guidance that uses energy-specific terms like 'reliability concern' and 'forced outage rate' while emphasizing safety and regulatory constraints.
“We are stuck during the user research phase; what advanced techniques can we use?”: The agent will access the deep reference for the Design Research method to provide advanced facilitation strategies and recovery techniques to help the team overcome their current roadblock.

Install

Download the skill as a ZIP:
https://mp-staging.autogineer.com/agent-skills/microsoft/dt-methods/download

Unzip it into the cross-client skills folder of your project:

mkdir -p .agents/skills && unzip dt-methods.zip -d .agents/skills

Documentation by Microsoft

Design Thinking Methods Skill

Entrypoint for Design Thinking method coaching knowledge. The dt-coach agent loads the method reference matching the active method in coaching state, the matching deep reference when advanced technique is needed, and the industry reference when an industry context applies.

How to use this skill

Read the method reference for the method currently active in coaching state to ground day-to-day coaching.
Read the matching deep reference when the conversation needs advanced facilitation, recovery techniques, or expert frameworks beyond the core method guidance.
Read the industry reference when the team has identified one of the nine covered industries as their context, and weave its vocabulary, constraints, and empathy tools into method-specific guidance.
Read dt-coach-telemetry.md when DT session artifacts need observable telemetry expectations grounded in telemetry-foundations.

Method references

Method	Name	Core reference	Deep reference
1	Scope Conversations	method-01-scope.md	method-01-deep.md
2	Design Research	method-02-research.md	method-02-deep.md
3	Input Synthesis	method-03-synthesis.md	method-03-deep.md
4	Brainstorming	method-04-brainstorming.md	method-04-deep.md
5	User Concepts	method-05-concepts.md	method-05-deep.md
6	Low-Fidelity Prototypes	method-06-lofi-prototypes.md	method-06-deep.md
7	High-Fidelity Prototypes	method-07-hifi-prototypes.md	method-07-deep.md
8	User Testing	method-08-testing.md	method-08-deep.md
9	Iteration at Scale	method-09-iteration.md	method-09-deep.md

Industry context references

Load the matching reference when the team identifies its industry context.

Reference	When to load
industry-energy.md	Energy-sector vocabulary, constraints, empathy tools, and reference scenario.
industry-financial-services.md	Financial services vocabulary, constraints, empathy tools, and reference scenario.
industry-healthcare.md	Healthcare vocabulary, constraints, empathy tools, and reference scenario.
industry-manufacturing.md	Manufacturing vocabulary, constraints, empathy tools, and reference scenario.
industry-nonprofit-social-impact.md	Nonprofit and social impact vocabulary, constraints, empathy tools, and reference scenario.
industry-pharmaceuticals-life-sciences.md	Pharmaceuticals and life sciences vocabulary, constraints, empathy tools, and reference scenario.
industry-professional-services.md	Professional services vocabulary, constraints, empathy tools, and reference scenario.
industry-public-sector.md	Public sector and government vocabulary, constraints, empathy tools, and reference scenario.
industry-retail-cpg.md	Retail and consumer goods vocabulary, constraints, empathy tools, and reference scenario.

Skill layout

.
├── SKILL.md
└── references/
    ├── method-01-scope.md
    ├── method-01-deep.md
    ├── method-02-research.md
    ├── method-02-deep.md
    ├── method-03-synthesis.md
    ├── method-03-deep.md
    ├── method-04-brainstorming.md
    ├── method-04-deep.md
    ├── method-05-concepts.md
    ├── method-05-deep.md
    ├── method-06-lofi-prototypes.md
    ├── method-06-deep.md
    ├── method-07-hifi-prototypes.md
    ├── method-07-deep.md
    ├── method-08-testing.md
    ├── method-08-deep.md
    ├── method-09-iteration.md
    ├── method-09-deep.md
    ├── industry-energy.md
    ├── industry-financial-services.md
    ├── industry-healthcare.md
    ├── industry-manufacturing.md
    ├── industry-nonprofit-social-impact.md
    ├── industry-pharmaceuticals-life-sciences.md
    ├── industry-professional-services.md
    ├── industry-public-sector.md
    ├── industry-retail-cpg.md
    └── dt-coach-telemetry.md

Files

ATTRIBUTION.mdAdded by AutoGineer871 B
LICENSELicence file added by AutoGineer1.1 KiB
SKILL.md6.5 KiB
references/dt-coach-telemetry.md1.5 KiB
references/industry-energy.md9.1 KiB
references/industry-financial-services.md10.7 KiB
references/industry-healthcare.md7.7 KiB
references/industry-manufacturing.md6.7 KiB
references/industry-nonprofit-social-impact.md15.6 KiB
references/industry-pharmaceuticals-life-sciences.md20.1 KiB
references/industry-professional-services.md14.0 KiB
references/industry-public-sector.md12.1 KiB
references/industry-retail-cpg.md16.5 KiB
references/method-01-deep.md10.4 KiB
references/method-01-scope.md10.2 KiB
references/method-02-deep.md15.6 KiB
references/method-02-research.md7.0 KiB
references/method-03-deep.md13.9 KiB
references/method-03-synthesis.md8.9 KiB
references/method-04-brainstorming.md13.6 KiB
references/method-04-deep.md16.5 KiB
references/method-05-concepts.md17.1 KiB
references/method-05-deep.md17.7 KiB
references/method-06-deep.md16.3 KiB
references/method-06-lofi-prototypes.md17.2 KiB
references/method-07-deep.md10.9 KiB
references/method-07-hifi-prototypes.md9.8 KiB
references/method-08-deep.md15.0 KiB
references/method-08-testing.md11.5 KiB
references/method-09-deep.md17.2 KiB
references/method-09-iteration.md11.9 KiB

Requirements and compatibility

Written for: GitHub Copilot, Claude Code

Works with: Claude Code, Claude apps, OpenAI Codex, GitHub Copilot, Cursor, Gemini CLI, Kiro, OpenCode, Goose, Amp, Roo Code, JetBrains Junie, Factory Droid, Devin (ex-Windsurf), Mistral Vibe, OpenHands, Letta

“Works with” means the tool reads the open Agent Skills format; a skill written for one tool may use features others lack.

Needs: Claude Code frontmatter

Security

No issues found by our static scan· No issues found

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