Brainstorming Ideas Into Designs

Help turn ideas into fully formed designs and specs through natural collaborative dialogue.

The Process

Phase 1: Understanding the Idea

Check project context first:

• Read relevant files, docs, recent commits
• Understand existing patterns and conventions
• Identify constraints from the codebase

Ask questions one at a time:

• Only one question per message
• Prefer multiple choice questions when possible
• Open-ended questions are fine when choices aren't clear
• Focus on understanding: purpose, constraints, success criteria

Key questions to explore:

• What problem does this solve?
• Who are the users?
• What are the success criteria?
• What are the constraints?
• What already exists that this relates to?

Phase 2: Exploring Approaches

Propose 2-3 different approaches:

• Each approach should be meaningfully different
• Include tradeoffs for each
• Lead with your recommended option
• Explain why you recommend it

Present options conversationally:

I see three ways to approach this:

**Option 1: [Name]** (Recommended)
[Description]
- Pro: [advantage]
- Con: [disadvantage]

**Option 2: [Name]**
[Description]
- Pro: [advantage]
- Con: [disadvantage]

**Option 3: [Name]**
[Description]
- Pro: [advantage]
- Con: [disadvantage]

I recommend Option 1 because [reasoning].

Phase 3: Presenting the Design

Once you understand what to build:

• Break design into sections of 200-300 words
• Before presenting each section to the user, run section-level expert review
• Ask after each section: "Does this section look right?"
• Wait for confirmation before continuing
• Be ready to revise if something doesn't fit

Section-level expert review:

Before the user sees each design section, route it to relevant experts based on content keywords:

Section Content Keywords	Expert(s) Invoked
database, schema, migration, storage, persistence, query	Data Systems Expert
page, form, button, display, UI, component, dashboard, click	UX Expert + Accessibility Expert
endpoint, request, response, REST, API, HTTP	REST API Guidelines skill + Security Expert
deploy, pipeline, build, release, CI/CD, container	Continuous Delivery Expert + Cloud Expert
test, spec, scenario, assert, mock, stub, fixture	Testing Expert
module, service, boundary, integration, composition, coupling	Software Architecture Expert
user, PII, data collection, consent, retention, GDPR	Privacy Expert
metric, SLO, monitor, alert, log, trace, observe	SRE Expert
domain, entity, aggregate, bounded context, ubiquitous language	Domain Design Expert
lead time, deployment frequency, feedback loop, batch size	Engineering Effectiveness Expert
(always)	Product Strategy Expert — reviews every section for product value

For each section:

1. Draft the section content
2. Identify matching keywords to determine which experts to invoke
3. Run the relevant expert review(s) on the section
4. Incorporate expert feedback into the section
5. Add a brief annotation noting which expert reviewed and what they suggested:

   > Reviewed by Data Systems Expert: Suggested adding index strategy for the query pattern described.
   > Reviewed by Product Strategy Expert: Confirmed this delivers clear user value.
   

6. Present the improved section to the user

This adds latency to brainstorming but produces higher-quality designs. The end-of-plan Gherkin review (/review-features) still runs as a final pass, but the heavy lifting happens section-by-section here.

Sections to cover:

• Architecture overview
• Key components
• Data flow
• Error handling
• Testing approach
• Edge cases

Phase 4: After the Design

When invoked from the plan command (/tommymorgan:plan):

• Return the validated design to the calling command
• The plan command handles file creation and expert review

When invoked standalone:

• Write validated design to <project>/plans/YYYY-MM-DD-<topic>.md
• Include all design decisions and rationale
• Commit the design document

Implementation (if continuing):

• Ask: "Ready to implement?"
• Use /tommymorgan:work to execute the plan

Key Principles

One question at a time Don't overwhelm with multiple questions. If a topic needs exploration, break it into sequential questions.

Multiple choice preferred Easier to answer than open-ended. Use when you can enumerate reasonable options.

YAGNI ruthlessly Remove unnecessary features from all designs. Build what's needed now, not what might be needed later.

Explore alternatives Always propose 2-3 approaches before settling. The first idea is rarely the best.

Incremental validation Present design in sections. Validate each before moving on. Catch misunderstandings early.

Be flexible Go back and clarify when something doesn't make sense. The goal is the right design, not finishing fast.

Anti-Patterns to Avoid

• Asking multiple questions in one message
• Jumping to implementation before design is clear
• Presenting the entire design at once
• Assuming you understand without asking
• Adding features "just in case"
• Skipping the alternatives exploration