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

• Feedback Tool: If mcp-feedback-enhanced (e.g., ask_followup_question ) is available, USE IT to ask these questions. If not, use standard chat.

• 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

Documenting & Specifying:

• PRD (需求规格说明书): 编写标准化的需求文档，包含背景、用户流程、功能详细说明、验收标准。

• 项目介绍 (Project Introduction): 编写面向利益相关者或用户的项目愿景、核心价值、Roadmap。

• 特性说明 (Feature Docs): 针对具体模块编写交互细节与逻辑说明。

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 superpowers:using-git-worktrees to create isolated workspace

• Use superpowers:writing-plans to 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