Brainstorming Ideas Into Designs
Overview
Help turn ideas into fully formed designs and specs through natural collaborative dialogue.
Start by understanding the current project context, then ask questions one at a time to refine the idea. Once you understand what you're building, present the design and get user approval.
Anti-Pattern: "This Is Too Simple To Need A Design"
Every project goes through this process. A todo list, a single-function utility, a config change — all of them. "Simple" projects are where unexamined assumptions cause the most wasted work. The design can be short (a few sentences for truly simple projects), but you MUST present it and get approval.
Checklist
You MUST create a task for each of these items and complete them in order:
- Explore project context — check files, docs, recent commits
- Ask clarifying questions — one at a time, understand purpose/constraints/success criteria
- Propose 2-3 approaches — with trade-offs and your recommendation
- Present design — in sections scaled to their complexity, get user approval after each section
- Write design doc — save to
docs/plans/YYYY-MM-DD-<topic>-design.md and commit
- Transition to implementation — invoke writing-plans skill to create implementation plan
Process Flow
digraph brainstorming {
"Explore project context" [shape=box];
"Ask clarifying questions" [shape=box];
"Propose 2-3 approaches" [shape=box];
"Present design sections" [shape=box];
"User approves design?" [shape=diamond];
"Write design doc" [shape=box];
"Invoke writing-plans skill" [shape=doublecircle];
"Explore project context" -> "Ask clarifying questions";
"Ask clarifying questions" -> "Propose 2-3 approaches";
"Propose 2-3 approaches" -> "Present design sections";
"Present design sections" -> "User approves design?";
"User approves design?" -> "Present design sections" [label="no, revise"];
"User approves design?" -> "Write design doc" [label="yes"];
"Write design doc" -> "Invoke writing-plans skill";
}
The terminal state is invoking writing-plans. Do NOT invoke frontend-design, mcp-builder, or any other implementation skill. The ONLY skill you invoke after brainstorming is writing-plans.
The Process
Understanding the idea:
- Check out the current project state first (files, docs, recent commits)
- Ask questions one at a time to refine the idea
- Prefer multiple choice questions when possible, but open-ended is fine too
- Only one question per message - if a topic needs more exploration, break it into multiple questions
- Focus on understanding: purpose, constraints, success criteria
Exploring approaches:
Presenting the design:
- Once you believe you understand what you're building, present the design
- Scale each section to its complexity: a few sentences if straightforward, up to 200-300 words if nuanced
- Ask after each section whether it looks right so far
- Cover: architecture, components, data flow, error handling, testing
- Be ready to go back and clarify if something doesn't make sense
After the Design
Documentation:
- Write the validated design to
docs/plans/YYYY-MM-DD-<topic>-design.md
- Use elements-of-style:writing-clearly-and-concisely skill if available
- Commit the design document to git
Implementation:
- Invoke the writing-plans skill to create a detailed implementation plan
- Do NOT invoke any other skill. writing-plans is the next step.
Key Principles
- One question at a time - Don't overwhelm with multiple questions
- Multiple choice preferred - Easier to answer than open-ended when possible
- YAGNI ruthlessly - Remove unnecessary features from all designs
- Explore alternatives - Always propose 2-3 approaches before settling
- Incremental validation - Present design, get approval before moving on
- Be flexible - Go back and clarify when something doesn't make sense
1---2name: brainstorming3description: You MUST use this before any creative work - creating features, building components, adding functionality, or modifying behavior. Explores user intent, requirements and design before implementation.4---56# Brainstorming Ideas Into Designs78## Overview910Help turn ideas into fully formed designs and specs through natural collaborative dialogue.1112Start by understanding the current project context, then ask questions one at a time to refine the idea. Once you understand what you're building, present the design and get user approval.1314<HARD-GATE>15Do NOT invoke any implementation skill, write any code, scaffold any project, or take any implementation action until you have presented a design and the user has approved it. This applies to EVERY project regardless of perceived simplicity.16</HARD-GATE>1718## Anti-Pattern: "This Is Too Simple To Need A Design"1920Every project goes through this process. A todo list, a single-function utility, a config change — all of them. "Simple" projects are where unexamined assumptions cause the most wasted work. The design can be short (a few sentences for truly simple projects), but you MUST present it and get approval.2122## Checklist2324You MUST create a task for each of these items and complete them in order:25261. **Explore project context** — check files, docs, recent commits272. **Ask clarifying questions** — one at a time, understand purpose/constraints/success criteria283. **Propose 2-3 approaches** — with trade-offs and your recommendation294. **Present design** — in sections scaled to their complexity, get user approval after each section305. **Write design doc** — save to `docs/plans/YYYY-MM-DD-<topic>-design.md` and commit316. **Transition to implementation** — invoke writing-plans skill to create implementation plan3233## Process Flow3435```dot36digraph brainstorming {37 "Explore project context" [shape=box];38 "Ask clarifying questions" [shape=box];39 "Propose 2-3 approaches" [shape=box];40 "Present design sections" [shape=box];41 "User approves design?" [shape=diamond];42 "Write design doc" [shape=box];43 "Invoke writing-plans skill" [shape=doublecircle];4445 "Explore project context" -> "Ask clarifying questions";46 "Ask clarifying questions" -> "Propose 2-3 approaches";47 "Propose 2-3 approaches" -> "Present design sections";48 "Present design sections" -> "User approves design?";49 "User approves design?" -> "Present design sections" [label="no, revise"];50 "User approves design?" -> "Write design doc" [label="yes"];51 "Write design doc" -> "Invoke writing-plans skill";52}53```5455**The terminal state is invoking writing-plans.** Do NOT invoke frontend-design, mcp-builder, or any other implementation skill. The ONLY skill you invoke after brainstorming is writing-plans.5657## The Process5859**Understanding the idea:**60- Check out the current project state first (files, docs, recent commits)61- Ask questions one at a time to refine the idea62- Prefer multiple choice questions when possible, but open-ended is fine too63- Only one question per message - if a topic needs more exploration, break it into multiple questions64- Focus on understanding: purpose, constraints, success criteria6566**Exploring approaches:**67- Propose 2-3 different approaches with trade-offs68- Present options conversationally with your recommendation and reasoning69- Lead with your recommended option and explain why70- When external research surfaces highly relevant sources (prior art, competitor analysis, reference implementations), save them to Readwise:71 ```bash72 readwise reader-create-document --url "https://..." --tags "brainstorming,<topic>"73 ```7475**Presenting the design:**76- Once you believe you understand what you're building, present the design77- Scale each section to its complexity: a few sentences if straightforward, up to 200-300 words if nuanced78- Ask after each section whether it looks right so far79- Cover: architecture, components, data flow, error handling, testing80- Be ready to go back and clarify if something doesn't make sense8182## After the Design8384**Documentation:**85- Write the validated design to `docs/plans/YYYY-MM-DD-<topic>-design.md`86- Use elements-of-style:writing-clearly-and-concisely skill if available87- Commit the design document to git8889**Implementation:**90- Invoke the writing-plans skill to create a detailed implementation plan91- Do NOT invoke any other skill. writing-plans is the next step.9293## Key Principles9495- **One question at a time** - Don't overwhelm with multiple questions96- **Multiple choice preferred** - Easier to answer than open-ended when possible97- **YAGNI ruthlessly** - Remove unnecessary features from all designs98- **Explore alternatives** - Always propose 2-3 approaches before settling99- **Incremental validation** - Present design, get approval before moving on100- **Be flexible** - Go back and clarify when something doesn't make sense
cercova-studios