Brainstorming Ideas Into Designs

Description

Turn ideas into fully formed designs through collaborative dialogue. Use this BEFORE any creative work - creating features, building components, adding functionality, or modifying behavior.

When to Use

• •Starting a new feature
• •Adding significant functionality
• •Modifying existing behavior
• •Any creative work before implementation

The Process

1. Understand the Idea

• •Check current project state (files, docs, recent commits)
• •Ask questions one at a time to refine the idea
• •Prefer multiple choice questions when possible
• •Focus on: purpose, constraints, success criteria

2. Explore Approaches

• •Propose 2-3 different approaches with trade-offs
• •Lead with your recommended option and explain why
• •Present options conversationally

3. Present the Design

• •Break into sections of 200-300 words
• •Ask after each section: "Does this look right so far?"
• •Cover:
  • •Architecture
  • •Components/modules
  • •Data flow
  • •Error handling
  • •Testing strategy
• •Go back and clarify if something doesn't make sense

4. Document

• •Write validated design to docs/plans/YYYY-MM-DD-<topic>-design.md
• •Commit the design document

5. Implementation (Optional)

• •Ask: "Ready to set up for implementation?"
• •Create isolated workspace if needed (git worktree)
• •Create detailed implementation plan

Key Principles

Example Flow

User: "I want to add user notifications"

Claude: "Let me check the current project structure first..."
        [reads files, understands context]

        "What's the primary goal for notifications?
         A) Real-time alerts for urgent events
         B) Daily/weekly digest summaries
         C) Both, with user preferences
         D) Something else"

User: "A"

Claude: "Got it - real-time alerts. Which delivery channels matter most?
         A) In-app only (simplest)
         B) In-app + email
         C) In-app + push notifications
         D) All of the above"

[continues one question at a time...]

Claude: "I think I understand. Let me present the design in sections.

        ## Architecture
        [200-300 words]

        Does this architecture look right so far?"

User: "Yes, but what about..."

[iterates until design is solid]

Claude: "I'll write this to docs/plans/2026-01-03-notifications-design.md"

Output

Design document in docs/plans/ with:

• •Problem statement
• •Chosen approach (with rationale)
• •Architecture overview
• •Component breakdown
• •Data flow
• •Error handling
• •Testing strategy
• •Open questions (if any)