Brainstorming Ideas Into PRDs

Overview

Help turn ideas into fully formed PRDs (Product Requirements Documents) 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. Finally, write a structured PRD at the project root.

The Process

Phase 1 — 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

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
• •Be ready to go back and clarify if something doesn't make sense

Phase 4 — Writing the PRD

Once the design is complete and validated:

1. •Ask: "Ready to write the PRD?"
2. •When user confirms, write a PRD.md file at the project root using the template below
3. •Fill each section with the information gathered during the brainstorming phases

PRD Template

# PRD: [Title]

## Overview

[2-3 sentence summary of the product/feature]

## Problem Statement

[Problem to solve, context, and motivation]

## Goals & Success Criteria

[Measurable objectives and how success will be evaluated]

## User Stories

- As a [user], I want [action], so that [benefit]

## Functional Requirements

[Detailed functional requirements]

## Non-Functional Requirements

[Performance, security, scalability requirements]

## Technical Constraints

[Technical constraints identified during brainstorming]

## Out of Scope

[What is explicitly excluded from this effort]

## Open Questions

[Unresolved questions from the brainstorming 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