# Af Ideation Expertise > Guide collaborative brainstorming and ideation sessions that produce structured documents for Discovery. Use when starting a new product/project idea, running a brainstorming session, or preparing ideation documents for import into AgentFlow Discovery. - Skill: `majiayu000/af-ideation-expertise` (Agent Skill, multi-file: 2 files) - Install (CLI): `npx skillmds add majiayu000/af-ideation-expertise` - Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/majiayu000/af-ideation-expertise/raw - Safety review: pending - Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex - Category: Product & Planning - Author: majiayu000 (https://skillmd.com/u/majiayu000) - Updated: 2026-09-09 - Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/majiayu000/af-ideation-expertise --- # Ideation Expertise ## Purpose Ideation is the creative, divergent-thinking phase that happens **before** Discovery. It captures messy brainstorming — problems, ideas, user needs, business context — and produces a structured document that Discovery can consume. **Key principle:** Ideation is **tool-agnostic**. This skill works in AgentFlow, but the same approach works in Claude web, ChatGPT, workshops, or whiteboards. The output format is what matters, not the tool. ## Portable Skill This skill is designed to be **portable**. The content below can be copied into any AI tool's system prompt or project instructions. Stakeholders can brainstorm in their preferred environment and produce a document that plugs directly into AgentFlow's Discovery phase. --- ## Ideation Guide ### What Ideation IS - Exploring problems, opportunities, and ideas - Capturing domain knowledge from stakeholders - Describing user workflows, screens, and interactions - Articulating business context and strategic alignment - Identifying constraints, risks, and open questions ### What Ideation is NOT - Making technical decisions (architecture, data models, APIs) - Selecting technology stacks or frameworks - Designing database schemas or system integrations - Committing to implementation approaches ### The Precision Boundary Ideation can be **highly precise** about the problem space and user experience. It must **stay silent** on technical implementation. | Topic | Precision Level | Rationale | |-------|----------------|-----------| | Problems and pain points | High | Stakeholders are the domain experts | | User personas and journeys | High | Domain knowledge, no code needed | | Screens and interactions | High | Wireframe-level descriptions welcome | | Business rules and logic | High | "Invoices must be approved within 30 days" | | Success metrics | High | Measurable targets the business cares about | | Feature ideas and priority | Medium | Directional (must-have vs nice-to-have) | | Known constraints | Capture as context | "We already use Salesforce" is a constraint, not a decision | | Data models and entities | Excluded | Discovery builds these with codebase context | | API design | Excluded | Discovery + Refinement territory | | Architecture and tech stack | Excluded | Requires codebase and infrastructure context | | Database schema | Excluded | Refinement and Delivery territory | **If the conversation drifts toward implementation:** Redirect with: "That's a great question for Discovery, where we'll have full codebase context. For now, let's capture what the user needs to accomplish." ### Guiding Questions Use these themes to structure brainstorming. Not all questions apply to every project — use what's relevant. #### Theme 1: Problem Space - What problem are we solving? Who has this problem? - How is this problem being solved today? What's broken about that? - What happens if we don't solve this? What's the cost of inaction? - How urgent is this? Is there a deadline or trigger event? #### Theme 2: Opportunity Space - What's the opportunity if we solve this well? - Who benefits most? (Users, business, operations, partners) - Are there adjacent opportunities we should be aware of? - What does success look like in 6 months? 2 years? #### Theme 3: User Space - Who are the users? What are their roles and skill levels? - Walk me through their current workflow step by step - Where do they get frustrated? Where do they lose time? - What would their ideal experience look like? - Are there different user types with different needs? #### Theme 4: Business Context - Why is the business investing in this now? - How does this align with company strategy or vision? - What are the business constraints (budget, timeline, resources)? - Are there compliance, regulatory, or legal requirements? - What business metrics should this move? #### Theme 5: Ideas and Features - What are the key capabilities users need? - Which of these are must-haves vs nice-to-haves? - Are there existing products or competitors we can learn from? - What's the smallest useful version of this? - What screens or workflows do you envision? #### Theme 6: Risks and Unknowns - What could go wrong? - What don't we know yet that we need to find out? - Are there dependencies on other teams, systems, or decisions? - What assumptions are we making that could be wrong? ### Versioning Ideation often happens in multiple rounds as thinking evolves. Each round should: 1. **Increment the version** in the document frontmatter (v1, v2, v3...) 2. **Add a changelog entry** noting what changed and why 3. **Not delete previous thinking** — mark superseded ideas as such rather than removing them When Discovery receives multiple versions, it examines the **delta** — what changed, what was refined, what was dropped — to understand the evolution of thinking. ### Output Format Ideation produces an **Ideation Document** using the template at `.claude/templates/ideation-document.md`. The template has: - YAML frontmatter (version, date, participants, status) - Structured sections that map to Discovery's context questions - A changelog for tracking version evolution The document should be placed at `docs/context/ideation-document.md` in the project's specs worktree (or handed off as a standalone file if brainstorming happened outside AgentFlow). --- ## Using This Skill Outside AgentFlow ### In Claude Web or Claude Projects Copy the "Ideation Guide" section above into your project instructions. Then start a conversation: > "I want to brainstorm a new product idea. Guide me through the ideation process and produce a structured ideation document at the end." The AI will use the guiding questions and precision boundaries to run a structured brainstorming session. At the end, ask it to format the output using the Ideation Document template. ### In ChatGPT or Other AI Tools Copy the "Ideation Guide" section into the system prompt or custom instructions. The guiding questions and boundaries work with any capable AI. ### In Workshops or Meetings Use the 6 themes as a facilitation framework: 1. **Problem Space** (20 min) — What's broken? 2. **Opportunity Space** (15 min) — What's possible? 3. **User Space** (20 min) — Who benefits and how? 4. **Business Context** (15 min) — Why now? Why us? 5. **Ideas and Features** (20 min) — What could we build? 6. **Risks and Unknowns** (10 min) — What could go wrong? After the workshop, consolidate notes into the Ideation Document template. ### Importing Into AgentFlow Once you have an ideation document (from any source): 1. Place it at `docs/context/ideation-document.md` in the project's specs worktree 2. If you have business context documents (vision statements, strategy docs, market research), place them in `docs/context/` as well 3. When Discovery starts, it will automatically detect and consume these documents 4. Discovery pre-populates its 4 context questions from what it finds, then fills gaps --- ## Integration with Discovery ### How Discovery Consumes Ideation Documents When the Discovery process skill detects documents in `docs/context/`: 1. **Ideation documents** → Extract problems, ideas, personas, business rules, constraints 2. **Business context documents** → Extract strategic alignment, success criteria, business drivers 3. **Multiple versions** → Summarize the delta: what changed, what was refined, what was dropped 4. **Pre-populate Q1-Q4** → Map ideation content to Discovery's 4 mandatory questions 5. **Identify gaps** → Tell the user: "Based on your ideation document, here's what I already know and what I still need to ask about" ### Mapping to Discovery Questions | Ideation Section | Maps to Discovery Question | |-----------------|---------------------------| | Problem Space | Q1: Business Driver | | User Space | Q2: User Context | | Known Constraints | Q3: Technical Constraints | | Success Metrics | Q4: Success Criteria | | Business Context | Q1 + Q4 enrichment | | Ideas and Features | Informs entity model and feature decomposition | | Risks and Unknowns | Informs ADRs and research needs | ### What Discovery Adds Even with a rich ideation document, Discovery still: - Validates and deepens the problem understanding - Performs technical analysis (codebase, infrastructure, integrations) - Builds the entity model and identifies the central entity - Makes architecture decisions (ADRs) with full technical context - Selects the tech stack (modules) based on constraints - Creates Linear features and milestones - Produces the 7 mandatory Discovery deliverables Ideation accelerates Discovery by providing rich domain context. It doesn't replace Discovery's technical analysis. --- ## AI Guardrails When running ideation as an AI session, enforce these boundaries: ``` YOU ARE facilitating an ideation session. Your role: DO: - Ask probing questions about problems, users, and business context - Encourage divergent thinking — explore multiple directions - Capture ideas without judging feasibility - Describe user workflows and screens in detail - Note business rules, constraints, and success metrics - Flag assumptions and unknowns - Use domain language (users, workflows, screens, rules) DO NOT: - Propose data models, database schemas, or entity relationships - Suggest API designs, endpoints, or system architecture - Recommend specific technologies, frameworks, or libraries - Make infrastructure or deployment decisions - Use technical language (tables, endpoints, schemas, microservices) - Commit to implementation approaches WHEN IMPLEMENTATION TOPICS ARISE: - Capture them as "Known Constraints" if they're real constraints (e.g., "we use Salesforce" → constraint) - Redirect to Discovery if they're decisions (e.g., "should we use GraphQL?" → "Discovery will evaluate that with full codebase context") ``` --- ## Common Pitfalls 1. **Over-structuring too early** — Ideation is messy. Don't force premature organization. Capture ideas freely, structure later. 2. **Technical rabbit holes** — Stakeholders may naturally discuss technology. Capture constraints, redirect decisions. 3. **Skipping business context** — Without the "why", Discovery can't prioritize effectively. Always capture strategic alignment. 4. **Single-round thinking** — Ideation often improves with reflection. Encourage multiple rounds. Each version captures evolved thinking. 5. **Losing the messy bits** — Superseded ideas still have value. Mark them as dropped rather than deleting — Discovery may want to understand why. 6. **Too much precision too soon** — Wireframe-level screen descriptions are fine. Pixel-perfect mockups are premature. Keep it at the "what the user sees and does" level.