Plan Plus — Brainstorming-Enhanced PDCA Planning

Combines brainstorming’s intent discovery with bkit PDCA’s structured planning to produce higher-quality Plan documents through collaborative dialogue.

Overview

Plan Plus enhances the standard /pdca plan by adding 4 brainstorming phases before document generation. This ensures that user intent is fully understood, alternatives are explored, and unnecessary features are removed before any implementation begins.

When to use Plan Plus instead of /pdca plan:

• The feature has ambiguous or complex requirements
• Multiple implementation approaches are possible
• You want to ensure YAGNI compliance from the start
• The feature involves significant architectural decisions

HARD-GATE

Process Flow

Phase 0: Context Exploration (automatic)
    ↓
Phase 1: Intent Discovery (1 question at a time)
    ↓
Phase 2: Alternatives Exploration (2-3 approaches)
    ↓
Phase 3: YAGNI Review (multiSelect verification)
    ↓
Phase 4: Incremental Design Validation (section-by-section)
    ↓
Phase 5: Plan Document Generation (plan-plus.template.md)
    ↓
Phase 6: Next Steps → /pdca design {feature}

Phase Details

Phase 0: Project Context Exploration (Automatic)

Before asking any questions, explore the current project state:

1. Read CLAUDE.md, package.json, pom.xml, etc. for project information
2. Check recent 5 git commits (understand current work direction)
3. Check existing docs/01-plan/ documents (prevent duplication)
4. Check .bkit-memory.json (check ongoing PDCA status)

Share exploration results briefly: “I’ve reviewed the current project state: …”

Phase 1: Intent Discovery (Brainstorming Style)

Principle: One question at a time, prefer multiple choice

Use AskUserQuestion tool to discover the following in order:

Q1. Core Purpose

“What is the core problem this feature solves?”

• Provide 3-4 choices (inferred from project context)
• Always include a custom input option

Q2. Target Users

“Who will primarily use this feature?”

• Admin / End user / Developer / External system

Q3. Success Criteria

“What criteria would indicate this feature is successful?”

• Derive specific, measurable criteria

Q4. Constraints (only when needed)

Conflicts with existing systems, performance requirements, technical constraints, etc.

Important: Minimize questions. Clear features need only Q1-Q2. Only proceed to Q3-Q4 for ambiguous features.

Phase 2: Alternatives Exploration (Brainstorming Core)

Always propose 2-3 approaches with trade-offs for each.

Format:

### Approach A: {name} — Recommended
- Pros: ...
- Cons: ...
- Best for: ...

### Approach B: {name}
- Pros: ...
- Cons: ...
- Best for: ...

### Approach C: {name} (optional)
- Pros: ...
- Cons: ...

Present the recommended approach first with clear reasoning. Use AskUserQuestion to let the user choose.

Phase 3: YAGNI Review (Brainstorming Core)

Perform a YAGNI (You Ain’t Gonna Need It) review on the selected approach:

Use AskUserQuestion with multiSelect: true: “Select only what is essential for the first version:”

List all features and move unselected items to Out of Scope.

Principle: Don’t abstract what can be done in 3 lines. Don’t design for hypothetical future requirements.

Phase 4: Incremental Design Validation (Brainstorming Style)

Present the design section by section, getting approval after each:

1. Architecture overview → “Does this direction look right?”
2. Key components/modules → “Does this structure look right?”
3. Data flow → “Does this flow look right?”

If the user says “no” to any section, revise only that section and re-present.

Phase 5: Plan Document Generation

Generate the Plan document using plan-plus.template.md with results from Phases 0-4.

Additional sections (not in standard plan.template.md):

• User Intent Discovery — Core problem, target users, success criteria from Phase 1
• Alternatives Explored — Approaches compared in Phase 2
• YAGNI Review — Included/deferred/removed items from Phase 3
• Brainstorming Log — Key decisions from Phases 1-4

Output Path: docs/01-plan/features/{feature}.plan.md

After document generation, update PDCA status:

• Create Task: [Plan] {feature}
• Update .bkit-memory.json: phase = “plan”

Phase 6: Next Steps

After Plan document generation:

Plan Plus completed
Document: docs/01-plan/features/{feature}.plan.md
Next step: /pdca design {feature}

Key Principles

Integration with PDCA

Plan Plus produces the same output as /pdca plan and feeds seamlessly into the standard PDCA cycle:

/plan-plus {feature}     ← Enhanced planning with brainstorming
    ↓
/pdca design {feature}   ← Standard PDCA continues
    ↓
/pdca do {feature}
    ↓
/pdca analyze {feature}
    ↓
/pdca report {feature}

Usage Examples

# Start brainstorming-enhanced planning
/plan-plus user-authentication

# After Plan Plus completes, continue with standard PDCA
/pdca design user-authentication
/pdca do user-authentication