brainstorming

# Brainstorming Ideas Into Designs

## Overview

Transform rough ideas into fully-formed designs through structured questioning and alternative exploration.

**Core principle:** Ask questions to understand, explore alternatives, present design incrementally for validation.

**Announce at start:** "I'm using the brainstorming skill to refine your idea into a design."

## Quick Reference

| Phase | Key Activities | Tool Usage | Output |
|-------|---------------|------------|--------|
| **1. Understanding** | Ask questions (one at a time) | AskUserQuestion for choices, agents for research | Purpose, constraints, criteria |
| **2. Exploration** | Propose 2-3 approaches | AskUserQuestion for approach selection, agents for patterns | Architecture options with trade-offs |
| **3. Design Presentation** | Present in 200-300 word sections | Open-ended questions | Complete design with validation |

## The Process

**REQUIRED: Create task tracker at start**

Use TaskCreate to create todos for each phase (or TodoWrite in older Claude Code versions):

- Phase 1: Understanding (purpose, constraints, criteria gathered)
- Phase 2: Exploration (2-3 approaches proposed and evaluated)
- Phase 3: Design Presentation (design validated in sections)

Use TaskUpdate to mark each phase as in_progress when working on it, completed when finished (or TodoWrite in older versions).

## Research Agents

**DO NOT perform deep research yourself. Delegate to specialized agents.**

### When to Use codebase-investigator

**Use codebase-investigator when you need to:**
- Understand how existing features are implemented
- Find where specific functionality lives in the codebase
- Identify existing patterns to follow
- Verify assumptions about codebase structure
- Check if a feature already exists

**Example delegation:**
```
Question: "How is authentication currently implemented?"
Action: Dispatch codebase-investigator with: "Find authentication implementation, including file locations, patterns used, and