plan-plus

Plan Plus — Brainstorming-Enhanced PDCA Planning

Combines brainstorming's intent discovery with rkit PDCA's structured planning to produce higher-quality Plan documents through collaborative dialogue.

Overview

Plan Plus enhances the standard /pdca plan by adding 4 brainstorming phases before document generation. This ensures that user intent is fully understood, alternatives are explored, and unnecessary features are removed before any implementation begins.

When to use Plan Plus instead of /pdca plan:

• The feature has ambiguous or complex requirements
• Multiple implementation approaches are possible
• You want to ensure YAGNI compliance from the start
• The feature involves significant architectural decisions

HARD-GATE

Do NOT write any code, scaffold any project, or invoke any implementation skill until this entire process is complete and the user has approved the Plan document. This applies to EVERY feature regardless of perceived simplicity. A "simple" feature still goes through this process — the design can be short, but you MUST present it and get approval.

Process Flow

Phase 0: Context Exploration (automatic)
    ↓
Phase 1: Intent Discovery (1 question at a time)
    ↓
Phase 2: Alternatives Exploration (2-3 approaches)
    ↓
Phase 3: YAGNI Review (multiSelect verification)
    ↓
Phase 4: Incremental Design Validation (section-by-section)
    ↓
Phase 5: Plan Document Generation (plan-plus.template.md)
    ↓
Phase 6: Next Steps → /pdca design {feature}

Phase Details

Phase 0: Project Context Exploration (Automatic)

Before asking any questions, explore the current project state:

1. Read CLAUDE.md, package.json, pom.xml, etc. for project information
2. Check recent 5 git commits (understand current work direction)
3. Check existing docs/01-plan/ documents (prevent duplication)
4. Check .rkit/state/memory.json (check ongoing PDCA status)

Share exploration results briefly: "I've reviewed the current project state: ..."

Phase 1: Intent Discovery (Brainstorming Style)

Principle: One question at a time, prefer multiple choice

Use AskUserQuestion tool to discover the following in order:

Q1. Core Purpose

"What is the core problem this feature solves?"

• Provide 3-4 choices (inferred from project context)
• Always include a custom input option

Q2. Target Users

"Who will primarily use this feature?"

• Admin / End user / Developer / External system

Q3. Success Criteria

"What criteria would indicate this feature is successful?"

• Derive specific, measurable criteria

Q4. Constraints (only when needed)

Conflicts with existing systems, performance requirements, technical constraints, etc.

Important: Minimize questions. Clear features need only Q1-Q2. Only proceed to Q3-Q4 for ambiguous features.

Phase 2: Alternatives Exploration (Brainstorming Core)

Always propose 2-3 approaches with trade-offs for each.

Format:

### Approach A: {name} — Recommended
- Pros: ...
- Cons: ...
- Best for: ...

### Approach B: {name}
- Pros: ...
- Cons: ...
- Best for: ...

### Approach C: {name} (optional)
- Pros: ...
- Cons: ...

Present the recommended approach first with clear reasoning. Use AskUserQuestion to let the user choose.

Phase 3: YAGNI Review (Brainstorming Core)

Perform a YAGNI (You Ain't Gonna Need It) review on the selected approach:

Use AskUserQuestion with multiSelect: true: "Select only what is essential for the first version:"

List all features and move unselected items to Out of Scope.

Principle: Don't abstract what can be done in 3 lines. Don't design for hypothetical future requirements.

Phase 4: Incremental Design Validation (Brainstorming Style)

Present the design section by section, getting approval after each:

1. Architecture overview → "Does this direction look right?"
2. Key components/modules → "Does this structure look right?"
3. Data flow → "Does this flow look right?"

If the user says "no" to any section, revise only that section and re-present.

Phase 5: Plan Document Generation

Generate the Plan document using plan-plus.template.md with results from Phases 0-4.

Additional sections (not in standard plan.template.md):

• User Intent Discovery — Core problem, target users, success criteria from Phase 1
• Alternatives Explored — Approaches compared in Phase 2
• YAGNI Review — Included/deferred/removed items from Phase 3
• Brainstorming Log — Key decisions from Phases 1-4
• Executive Summary -- Auto-synthesize 4-perspective summary (Problem/Solution/Function UX Effect/Core Value) from Phases 1-4 results. Place at document top, before numbered sections.
• Executive Summary Response -- MANDATORY: After generating the Plan document, also output the Executive Summary table in your response so the user sees the summary immediately without opening the file.

Output Path: docs/01-plan/features/{feature}.plan.md

After document generation, update PDCA status:

• Create Task: [Plan] {feature}
• Update .rkit/state/memory.json: phase = "plan"

Phase 6: Next Steps

After Plan document generation:

Plan Plus completed
Document: docs/01-plan/features/{feature}.plan.md
Next step: /pdca design {feature}

Key Principles

Principle	Origin	Application
One question at a time	Brainstorming	Sequential questions via AskUserQuestion
Explore alternatives	Brainstorming	Mandatory 2-3 approaches in Phase 2
YAGNI ruthlessly	Brainstorming	multiSelect verification in Phase 3
Incremental validation	Brainstorming	Section-by-section approval in Phase 4
HARD-GATE	Brainstorming	No code before approval (entire process)
Context first	Brainstorming	Automatic exploration in Phase 0

Integration with PDCA

Plan Plus produces the same output as /pdca plan and feeds seamlessly into the standard PDCA cycle:

/plan-plus {feature}     ← Enhanced planning with brainstorming
    ↓
/pdca design {feature}   ← Standard PDCA continues
    ↓
/pdca do {feature}
    ↓
/pdca analyze {feature}
    ↓
/pdca report {feature}

Usage Examples

# Start brainstorming-enhanced planning
/plan-plus user-authentication

# After Plan Plus completes, continue with standard PDCA
/pdca design user-authentication
/pdca do user-authentication