Brainstorming Ideas Into Designs

Overview

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

Core principle: Research first, ask targeted questions to fill gaps, explore alternatives, present design incrementally for validation.

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

Phase	Key Activities	Tool Usage	Output
Prep: Autonomous Recon	Inspect repo/docs/commits, form initial model	Native tools (ls, cat, git log, etc.)	Draft understanding to confirm
1. Understanding	Share findings, ask only for missing context	AskUserQuestion for real decisions	Purpose, constraints, criteria (confirmed)
2. Exploration	Propose 2-3 approaches	AskUserQuestion for approach selection	Architecture options with trade-offs
3. Design Presentation	Present in 200-300 word sections	Open-ended questions	Complete design with validation
4. Design Documentation	Write design document	writing-clearly-and-concisely skill	Design doc in docs/plans/