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

Research with Experts:

• If the idea involves specialized knowledge, identify relevant experts
• Delegate reesarch task to subagent using the task(Researcher) tool

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

During Dicsussion

Question Presentation:

• Present questions and options clearly and concisely
• Show question as a title, with options or details below
• use numbered or lettered lists for options. Allowing the user to pick by number/letter
• After presenting a section of the design, ask: "Does this look right so far?"

Ensure Consistency:

• Keep track of previous answers and design decisions
• Refer back to earlier points to ensure alignment
• Adjust the design based on feedback and new information

Shift in Direction:

• If the user indicates a significant change in direction, pause and reassess
• Check if the user is referring to forking a previous question. If so, go back to that question and present alternatives again
• Ask clarifying questions to understand the new direction
• Confirm understanding before proceeding with the new direction

After the Design

Documentation:

• Write the validated design with the proscribed storage backend.
• Use elements-of-style:writing-clearly-and-concisely skill if available
• Commit the design document to git

Implementation (if continuing):

• Ask: "Ready to set up for implementation?" If yes:
  • Use superpowers_using_git_worktrees skill to create isolated workspace
  • Use superpowers_writing_plans to create detailed implementation plan
• Otherwise, end the session

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