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 in small sections (200-300 words), checking after each section whether it looks right so far.
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:
- Propose 2-3 different approaches with trade-offs
- Present options conversationally with your recommendation and reasoning
- Lead with your recommended option and explain why
Presenting the design:
- Once you believe you understand what you're building, present the design
- Break it into sections of 200-300 words
- 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 context-compressor skill if available for efficient documentation
- Commit the design document to git
Implementation (if continuing):
- Ask: "Ready to set up for implementation?"
- Use writing-plans skill to create detailed implementation plan
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 in sections, validate each
- Be flexible - Go back and clarify when something doesn't make sense
Iron Laws
- NEVER propose a single solution — always surface 2–3 distinct approaches with trade-offs; a single solution forecloses exploration and anchors the user prematurely.
- ALWAYS apply YAGNI (You Ain't Gonna Need It) — challenge every feature or complexity not directly required by the stated problem; unneeded features become permanent maintenance debt.
- NEVER ask multiple questions in one response — one focused question at a time maintains dialogue flow; multiple questions cause partial answers and leave the most important question unanswered.
- ALWAYS prefer multiple-choice over open-ended questions — specific options reduce cognitive load; open-ended questions require the user to invent answers rather than evaluate them.
- NEVER proceed to implementation details until design decisions are confirmed — premature implementation locks in unvalidated assumptions; confirm the "what" and "why" before the "how".
Anti-Patterns
| Anti-Pattern | Why It Fails | Correct Approach |
|---|---|---|
| Proposing only one solution | Anchors user; forecloses better alternatives | Always offer 2-3 approaches with explicit trade-offs |
| Accepting first requirement as complete | First articulation rarely captures all constraints | Ask at least one clarifying question about scope |
| Asking 3+ questions at once | User answers the easy ones; skips the hard ones | One question per response; wait for answer |
| Jumping to implementation | Design flaws found late are expensive to fix | Confirm design decisions before writing code |
| Skipping YAGNI challenge | Unneeded features accumulate as tech debt | Explicitly challenge each feature not strictly required |
Memory Protocol (MANDATORY)
Before starting: Read .claude/context/memory/learnings.md
After completing:
- New pattern ->
.claude/context/memory/learnings.md - Issue found ->
.claude/context/memory/issues.md - Decision made ->
.claude/context/memory/decisions.md
ASSUME INTERRUPTION: If it's not in memory, it didn't happen.