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

**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

**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

## Stack-Specific Decision Trees

When brainstorming features for your stack, work through these decision trees:

### Platform Decision

```
Is this feature...
├── iOS/native only?
│   └── Use indie-stack:swift-ios-app patterns
├── Web only?
│   └── Use Next.js + Vercel patterns
├── Backend/API only?
│   └── Use indie-stack:supabase-setup patterns
└── Full stack (mobile + web + backend)?
    └── Design backend first, then platform UIs
```

### Data Architecture

```
Does this feature need data persistence?
├── No → Local state only (SwiftUI @State, React useState)
├── Yes, local only → SwiftData (iOS) or localStorage (web)
├── Yes, synce