Brainstorming Ideas Into Designs

Transform vague ideas into fully-formed designs through structured collaborative dialogue.

Use TodoWrite to track these 7 phases:

Understand the idea (dialogue first, no agents)
Explore requirements (Starbursting questions)
Checkpoint - offer exploration/research options
Research similar solutions (if requested)
Present approaches with recommendation
Validate design incrementally
Document and next steps

Core Principles

Dialogue first - Ask the user before spawning any agents
One question at a time - Never batch multiple questions
Multiple choice preferred - Easier to answer than open-ended
"Other" always available - Free text input for custom responses
YAGNI ruthlessly - Challenge every feature's necessity
Incremental validation - Present design in 200-300 word sections
Agents on request - Only explore/research when user chooses it

Phase 1: Understand the Idea

Start with dialogue, not agents. Ask the user directly.

1a. Initial Question

Use AskUserQuestion:

Header	Question	Options
Idea type	What would you like to brainstorm?	1. New feature - Add new functionality 2. Modification - Change existing behavior 3. Integration - Connect with external system 4. Exploration - Not sure yet, let's discover

1b. Follow-up (based on response)

Ask clarifying questions using AskUserQuestion. Keep it conversational:

"Can you describe this in a sentence or two?" (free text via "Other")
"What triggered this idea?" with context-appropriate options
"Is there an existing feature this builds on?"

Phase 2: Explore Requirements (Starbursting)

Ask questions one at a time using AskUserQuestion. Adapt based on idea type.

Question Framework (5WH)

Question Type	When to Ask	Example AskUserQuestion
WHO	Always first	"Who will use this?" → Options: Existing users, New segment, Internal, API consumers
WHY	After WHO	"What problem does this solve?" → Options based on detected pain points
WHAT	After WHY is clear	"What's the core capability?" → Open or options based on research
WHERE	For integrations/modifications	"Where should this live?" → Options based on codebase exploration
HOW	After approach research	"How should we implement?" → Present 2-3 technical approaches

Adaptive Questioning

Skip questions when answers are obvious from context
If user seems certain, move faster to approaches
If user seems uncertain, explore deeper with sub-questions
Use "Other" option to allow custom responses

Phase 3: Checkpoint - Gather More Context?

After understanding requirements, ask before spawning any agents:

Header	Question	Options
Next step	How should we proceed?	1. Explore codebase - Check existing patterns and tech stack 2. Research solutions - Look up how others solve this 3. Both - Explore then research 4. Skip to approaches - I know what I want

If user chooses "Explore codebase":

Task(
  subagent_type="Explore",
  prompt="Quick scan: project structure, tech stack, patterns relevant to [user's idea]",
  run_in_background=false
)

Then summarize findings and ask: "Based on this, should we also research external solutions?"

If user chooses "Research solutions":

Proceed to Phase 4.

If user chooses "Skip to approaches":

Jump directly to Phase 5 (Present Approaches).

Phase 4: Research Similar Solutions (If Requested)

Only run when user explicitly chose research in Phase 3.

4a. Perplexity Query

mcp__perplexity-ask__perplexity_

...

brainstorming-ideas

SKILL.md