Brainstorming Ideas Into Designs

Adapted from obra/superpowers

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 context:

• Read CLAUDE.md (project-level, then global) to identify the stack(s) in use
• If stack skills are referenced (e.g., django-patterns.md, nextjs-patterns.md, flutter-patterns.md), read them to understand tech constraints and conventions
• Review any existing project files, docs, or recent commits
• Treat the stack as a given — don't ask which framework or language to use when CLAUDE.md already specifies it

Refining the idea:

• 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>-brainstorm.md
• If in a git repo, commit the design document

Next step:

After committing the design doc, suggest:

"Design is saved. Next steps depend on what you're building:

• Product/UX-heavy feature: Run /prd to formalize requirements, then /ux-spec for UX foundations before planning.
• Technical/backend feature: Start a new session with the planner agent to break this into implementation phases."

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