Brainstorming Ideas Into Designs

Transform rough ideas into fully-formed designs through intelligent agent selection and structured exploration.

Core principle: Analyze the topic, select relevant agents dynamically, explore alternatives in parallel, present design incrementally.

STEP 0: Verify User Intent with AskUserQuestion

BEFORE creating tasks, clarify brainstorming constraints:

AskUserQuestion(
  questions=[
    {
      "question": "What type of design exploration?",
      "header": "Type",
      "options": [
        {"label": "Open exploration (Recommended)", "description": "Generate 10+ ideas, evaluate all, synthesize top 3"},
        {"label": "Constrained design", "description": "I have specific requirements to work within"},
        {"label": "Comparison", "description": "Compare 2-3 specific approaches I have in mind"},
        {"label": "Quick ideation", "description": "Generate ideas fast, skip deep evaluation"}
      ],
      "multiSelect": false
    },
    {
      "question": "Any preferences or constraints?",
      "header": "Constraints",
      "options": [
        {"label": "None", "description": "Explore all possibilities"},
        {"label": "Use existing patterns", "description": "Prefer patterns already in codebase"},
        {"label": "Minimize complexity", "description": "Favor simpler solutions"},
        {"label": "I'll specify", "description": "Let me provide specific constraints"}
      ],
      "multiSelect": false
    }
  ]
)

Based on answers, adjust workflow:

• Open exploration: Full 7-phase process with all agents
• Constrained design: Skip divergent phase, focus on feasibility
• Comparison: Skip ideation, jump to evaluation phase
• Quick ideation: Generate ideas, skip deep evaluation

STEP 0b: Select Orchestration Mode

Choose Agent Teams (mesh — agents debate and challenge ideas) or Task tool (star — all report to lead):

1. ORCHESTKIT_PREFER_TEAMS=1 → Agent Teams mode
2. Agent Teams unavailable → Task tool mode (default)
3. Otherwise: Open exploration with 3+ agents → recommend Agent Teams (real-time debate produces better ideas); Quick ideation → Task tool

Fallback: If Agent Teams encounters issues, fall back to Task tool for remaining phases.

CRITICAL: Task Management is MANDATORY (CC 2.1.16)

# Create main task IMMEDIATELY
TaskCreate(
  subject="Brainstorm: {topic}",
  description="Design exploration with parallel agent research",
  activeForm="Brainstorming {topic}"
)

# Create subtasks for each phase
TaskCreate(subject="Analyze topic and select agents", activeForm="Analyzing topic")
TaskCreate(subject="Search memory for past decisions", activeForm="Searching knowledge graph")
TaskCreate(subject="Generate divergent ideas (10+)", activeForm="Generating ideas")
TaskCreate(subject="Feasibility fast-check", activeForm="Checking feasibility")
TaskCreate(subject="Evaluate with devil's advocate", activeForm="Evaluating ideas")
TaskCreate(subject="Synthesize top approaches", activeForm="Synthesizing approaches")
TaskCreate(subject="Present design options", activeForm="Presenting options")

The Seven-Phase Process

See references/phase-workflow.md for detailed instructions.

When NOT to Use

Skip brainstorming when:

• Requirements are crystal clear and specific
• Only one obvious approach exists
• User has already designed the solution
• Time-sensitive bug fix or urgent issue

Quick Reference: Agent Selection

Always include: workflow-architect for system design perspective.

Agent Teams Alternative: Brainstorming Team

In Agent Teams mode, form a brainstorming team where agents debate ideas in real-time. Dynamically select teammates based on topic analysis (Phase 0):

TeamCreate(team_name="brainstorm-{topic-slug}", description="Brainstorm {topic}")

# Always include the system design lead
Task(subagent_type="workflow-architect", name="system-designer",
     team_name="brainstorm-{topic-slug}",
     prompt="""You are the system design lead for brainstorming: {topic}
     DIVERGENT MODE: Generate 3-4 architectural approaches.
     When other teammates share ideas, build on them or propose alternatives.
     Challenge ideas that seem over-engineered — advocate for simplicity.
     After divergent phase, help synthesize the top approaches.""")

# Domain-specific teammates (select 2-3 based on topic keywords)
Task(subagent_type="backend-system-architect", name="backend-thinker",
     team_name="brainstorm-{topic-slug}",
     prompt="""Brainstorm backend approaches for: {topic}
     DIVERGENT MODE: Generate 3-4 backend-specific ideas.
     When system-designer shares architectural ideas, propose concrete API designs.
     Challenge ideas from other teammates with implementation reality checks.
     Play devil's advocate on complexity vs simplicity trade-offs.""")

Task(subagent_type="frontend-ui-developer", name="frontend-thinker",
     team_name="brainstorm-{topic-slug}",
     prompt="""Brainstorm frontend approaches for: {topic}
     DIVERGENT MODE: Generate 3-4 UI/UX ideas.
     When backend-thinker proposes APIs, suggest frontend patterns that match.
     Challenge backend proposals that create poor user experiences.
     Advocate for progressive disclosure and accessibility.""")

# Optional: Add security-auditor, ux-researcher, llm-integrator based on topic

Key advantage: Agents riff on each other’s ideas and play devil’s advocate in real-time, rather than generating ideas in isolation.

Team teardown after synthesis:

# After Phase 5 synthesis and design presentation
SendMessage(type="shutdown_request", recipient="system-designer", content="Brainstorm complete")
SendMessage(type="shutdown_request", recipient="backend-thinker", content="Brainstorm complete")
SendMessage(type="shutdown_request", recipient="frontend-thinker", content="Brainstorm complete")
# ... shutdown any additional domain teammates
TeamDelete()

Fallback: If team formation fails, use standard Phase 2 Task spawns from Phase Workflow.

Key Principles

Related Skills

• architecture-decision-record – Document key decisions made during brainstorming
• implement – Execute the implementation plan after brainstorming completes
• explore – Deep codebase exploration to understand existing patterns
• assess – Rate quality 0-10 with dimension breakdown

References

• Phase Workflow – Detailed 7-phase instructions
• Divergent Techniques – SCAMPER, Mind Mapping, etc.
• Evaluation Rubric – 0-10 scoring criteria
• Devil’s Advocate Prompts – Challenge templates
• Socratic Questions – Requirements discovery
• Common Pitfalls – Mistakes to avoid
• Example Session – Complete example

Version: 4.1.0 (January 2026) – Refactored to progressive loading structure