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

Phase 1: Understanding the Idea

• Check 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

Phase 2: 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

Phase 3: 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 clear, concise language
• Commit the design document to git

Implementation (if continuing)

• Ask: "Ready to set up for implementation?"
• If yes, create a detailed implementation plan in docs/plans/YYYY-MM-DD-<topic>-implementation.md
• Break down into small, testable tasks
• Commit the 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

Design Document Template

When writing the design document, use this structure:

# <Topic> Design Document

**Date**: YYYY-MM-DD
**Status**: Draft | Approved
**Author**: Brainstorming session

---

## Overview

<1-2 sentence summary>

## Problem Statement

<What problem are we solving?>

## Goals & Non-Goals

**Goals:**
- ...

**Non-Goals:**
- ...

## Design

### Architecture

<High-level architecture>

### Components

<Key components and responsibilities>

### Data Flow

<How data moves through the system>

## Implementation Plan

<High-level steps>

## Testing Strategy

<How we'll verify correctness>

## Open Questions

<Unresolved decisions>