majiayu000 Brainstorming Ideas Into Designs
Help turn ideas into fully formed designs through collaborative dialogue.
When this skill activates, present a design before writing code. The design can be short (a few sentences for simple projects) — scale it to the complexity of the task. Get the user's approval before proceeding to implementation.
Process
- Explore context — check files, docs, recent commits
- Ask clarifying questions — one at a time, prefer multiple choice, understand purpose/constraints/success criteria
- Propose 2-3 approaches — with trade-offs and your recommendation
- Present design — scale each section to its complexity, ask after each section if it looks right
- Write spec — save to
docs/specs/(create directory if needed) and commit - User reviews spec — wait for approval before proceeding
- Transition — invoke writing-plans skill to create implementation plan
Design Principles
- One question at a time — don't overwhelm with multiple questions
- YAGNI ruthlessly — remove unnecessary features
- Design for isolation — break into units with one clear purpose, well-defined interfaces, testable independently
- Explore alternatives — always propose 2-3 approaches before settling
- Scope check — if the request describes multiple independent subsystems, decompose into sub-projects first
Working in Existing Codebases
- Explore the current structure before proposing changes. Follow existing patterns.
- Where existing code has problems that affect the work, include targeted improvements as part of the design.
- Don't propose unrelated refactoring. Stay focused on what serves the current goal.
After Design Approval
Invoke the writing-plans skill to create a detailed implementation plan. Do NOT invoke any other skill — writing-plans is the next step.