tomevault-io Brainstorming Ideas
Quick Start
- Diverge (20 min) - Generate 20+ ideas with no judgment
- Explore (10 min) - Combine, connect, flesh out themes
- Converge (15 min) - Evaluate against criteria, prioritize
- Select - Pick top 3 with clear rationale
- Document - Capture all ideas and decisions for future reference
Features
| Feature | Description | Guide |
|---|---|---|
| Divergent Phase | Generate many options | Quantity over quality, no judgment |
| SCAMPER | Systematic modification | Substitute, Combine, Adapt, Modify, Put to use, Eliminate, Reverse |
| Mind Mapping | Visual connections | Central topic with branching ideas |
| Reverse Brainstorm | Learn from failure | "How to guarantee failure?" -> prevention |
| Role Storming | Different perspectives | Junior dev, security expert, user personas |
| Starbursting | Question-based | Who, What, When, Where, Why, How |
Common Patterns
# Divergent Phase Rules
1. Quantity over quality - aim for 20+ ideas
2. No judgment - all ideas valid
3. Wild ideas welcome - sparks creativity
4. Build on others - "Yes, and..."
5. Time-box - prevent over-analysis
# SCAMPER Framework
S - SUBSTITUTE: Different tech stack? Team structure?
C - COMBINE: Merge features? Hybrid approaches?
A - ADAPT: From other industries? Products?
M - MODIFY/MAGNIFY: Bigger/smaller? Faster/slower?
P - PUT TO OTHER USES: Different users? Problems?
E - ELIMINATE: Remove features? Simplify?
R - REVERSE: Opposite approach? Different order?
# Reverse Brainstorm
Goal: Build reliable API
Reversed: How to make MOST unreliable API?
| Failure Idea | Prevention Strategy |
|--------------|---------------------|
| No error handling | Comprehensive try/catch |
| Single point of failure | Redundancy, load balancing |
| No monitoring | Prometheus + Grafana |
| Deploy on Fridays | Change freeze policies |
# Prioritization Matrix
| Idea | Impact | Effort | Score | Priority |
|------|--------|--------|-------|----------|
| A | High | Low | 9 | 1st |
| B | High | High | 6 | 3rd |
| C | Medium | Low | 7 | 2nd |
# Role Storming Perspectives
TECHNICAL:
- Junior Dev: "What's confusing?"
- Security Expert: "What vulnerabilities?"
- DevOps: "How to deploy/monitor?"
USER:
- Power User: "Advanced features needed?"
- New User: "Is this intuitive?"
- Frustrated User: "What's annoying?"
EXTERNAL:
- Competitor: "How would we copy this?"
- Hacker: "How to exploit this?"
Best Practices
| Do | Avoid |
|---|---|
| Set clear time limits per phase | Judging ideas during divergent phase |
| Capture ALL ideas, even "bad" ones | Letting dominant voices control |
| Build on others' ideas with "Yes, and..." | Skipping exploration phase |
| Use visual tools (mind maps, boards) | Converging too early |
| Vote anonymously to avoid groupthink | Brainstorming without clear goal |
| Follow up with action items | Abandoning ideas without evaluation |
| Mix individual and group ideation | Sessions over 60 minutes |
| Create safety for wild ideas | Forgetting to capture reasoning |
Related Skills
thinking-sequentially- Structure explorationwriting-plans- Turn ideas into planssolving-problems- Generate solution hypothesesdispatching-parallel-agents- Parallel idea exploration
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