Brainstorming

Overview

Turn rough ideas into fully formed designs and specs through natural collaborative dialogue. Focus on understanding the “why” and “how” before jumping into the “what”.

The Process

1. Understanding Intent

• Ask one question at a time to refine the idea.
• Focus on purpose, constraints, and success criteria.
• Prefer multiple choice or specific options to reduce cognitive load.

2. Exploring Approaches

• Propose 2-3 different approaches with clear trade-offs.
• Recommend one approach and explain why it’s the best fit for the context.

3. Presenting the Design

• Present the design in small sections (200-300 words).
• Validate each section with the user before moving to the next.
• Cover architecture, components, data flow, and testing strategy.

Key Principles

• One Question at a Time: Don’t overwhelm the user.
• Incremental Validation: Get feedback at every step.
• Ruthless YAGNI: Focus only on what is necessary.
• Socratic Refinement: Use questions to tease out the best design.

After the Design

Once the design is validated:

• Document it in docs/plans/YYYY-MM-DD-<topic>-design.md.
• Commit the design document.
• Ask: “Ready to move to the planning phase?”
• Transition to the planning skill to break the design into actionable tasks.