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 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?"
- •Use
obra-using-git-worktreesto create isolated workspace - •Use
obra-writing-plansto 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