brainstorming

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

Phase 0: Check for Existing Design

Before starting brainstorming, check for existing design files:

• docs/plans/*-design.md (typical location)
• design.md (root directory)
• docs/design.md (alternate location)
• docs/manus/findings.md (if manus-planning was used, check "## Design Document" section)

If design exists:

• Read the existing design
• Announce: "Found existing design at [path]"
• Interactive mode: Ask "Should I: 1) Use existing design and proceed to implementation 2) Refine/update it 3) Start fresh design"
• Autonomous mode (e.g., Ralph loops): Automatically use existing design and skip to "After the Design" → Implementation phase
• Based on choice/mode:
  • Option 1 / Autonomous: Skip to "After the Design" → Implementation phase
  • Option 2: Load existing design, ask targeted refinement questions
  • Option 3: Archive old design, proceed with fresh brainstorming

If no design exists:

• Continue with Phase 1 (Understanding the idea)

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, 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?"
• Ask workspace preference:
  1. Use a git worktree (recommended) - isolated workspace
  2. Work directly in this repo (no worktrees) - faster, less isolation
• Based on choice:
  • Worktree: Use superpowers-ng:using-git-worktrees to create isolated workspace
  • Direct: Ensure safe setup in current repo:
    • Be on a feature branch (not main/master); if needed: git checkout -b <branch>
    • Ensure clean working tree (git status clean) or stash/commit before proceeding
• Present planning options:
  1. Native planning (writing-plans + executing-plans): Best for short tasks (<30 min), interactive development with human checkpoints
  2. Manus planning (manus-planning): Best for long autonomous runs, multi-session projects, tasks requiring persistent memory across context resets
• Based on choice:
  • Native: Use superpowers-ng:writing-plans to create detailed implementation plan
  • Manus: Use superpowers-ng:manus-planning (the design document content will be automatically copied into docs/manus/findings.md under "## Design Document" section)

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