nicodiansk Brainstorm
Turn ideas into fully formed designs through collaborative dialogue.
Announce: "Using brainstorm to explore this idea before implementation."
The Iron Law
NO IMPLEMENTATION WITHOUT UNDERSTANDING REQUIREMENTS FIRST
Process
1. Understand Context
- Check project state (files, docs, recent commits)
- Read agent memory for relevant prior context
2. Discover Requirements
- Ask questions one at a time
- Prefer multiple choice when possible
- Focus on: purpose, constraints, success criteria, users
- Don't overwhelm — one question per message
3. Explore Approaches
- Propose 2-3 approaches with trade-offs
- Lead with your recommendation and reasoning
- Be ready to combine or discard
4. Present Design
- Break into sections of 200-300 words
- Ask after each section: "Does this look right?"
- Cover: architecture, components, data flow, error handling, testing
- Apply YAGNI — remove unnecessary features
5. Save and Continue
- Write design to
docs/plans/YYYY-MM-DD-<topic>-design.md - Commit the design document
- Offer: "Ready for story breakdown?" → chains to
/turbocharge:story - Or: "Ready for implementation planning?" → chains to
/turbocharge:plan
Red Flags — STOP
| Flag | Problem |
|---|---|
| Jumping to code | Didn't explore requirements |
| Single approach | Didn't propose 2-3 alternatives |
| Wall of text | Present in 200-300 word sections |
| Unanswered questions | Don't design around unknowns |
| No YAGNI review | Remove unnecessary features |
Workflow Position
brainstorm → story → plan → build → review → ship