Claude as a Requirements-Clarification Thinking Partner

Before Applying Claude, Understand the Problem

A business user's first move should not be prompting Claude to do the task -- it should be using Claude to clarify what the task actually is. This is a distinct, earlier step: analyzing requirements and use cases.

Associates use Claude itself as a thinking partner for this clarification:

• Restating a fuzzy ask in clearer terms to check shared understanding
• Listing stakeholders and constraints that bear on the work
• Surfacing edge cases that a first read of the request might miss
• Drafting acceptance criteria so "done" is defined before work starts

The AI Fluency Connection

This mirrors two AI Fluency ideas:

• Delegation -- deciding what to hand to Claude at all, as opposed to handling it yourself or routing it to a person
• Description -- framing the work clearly enough that Claude (or a person) can act on it without guessing

Treating requirements-clarification as its own step, rather than skipping straight to "write me a draft," is what separates deliberate use of Claude from reflexive use.

Common exam traps

• Jumping straight to "use Claude" on a task before analyzing whether it's a good fit and how the output will be verified -- clarification and fit-assessment come first, not after the fact.
• Assuming every step of a process should be automated, instead of using this clarification step to identify the specific steps where Claude adds the most value.