Brainstorming Protocol

Use this skill BEFORE any creative work to ensure you understand intent and have explored the design space.

When to Use

ALWAYS invoke this skill before:

• Designing experiments
• Formulating hypotheses
• Creating new features or components
• Making architectural decisions
• Starting any non-trivial implementation

The Process

1. Intent Clarification

Before doing anything, answer:

• What problem are we solving?
• Who is the audience/user?
• What does success look like?
• What are the constraints?

If any of these are unclear, ASK before proceeding.

2. Requirements Gathering

List all requirements:

Functional requirements:

• What must this do?
• What inputs does it take?
• What outputs does it produce?

Non-functional requirements:

• Performance constraints (time, memory)
• Compatibility requirements
• Quality attributes

Out of scope:

• What are we explicitly NOT doing?
• What limitations are acceptable?

3. Design Exploration

Explore at least 2-3 approaches:

## Approach A: [Name]
- **Pros:** [List advantages]
- **Cons:** [List disadvantages]
- **Complexity:** [Low/Medium/High]
- **Risk:** [What could go wrong]

## Approach B: [Name]
- **Pros:** [...]
- **Cons:** [...]
...

4. Decision and Rationale

After exploring options:

• Chosen approach: Which and why
• Trade-offs accepted: What we're giving up
• Assumptions made: What we're taking for granted
• Validation needed: How we'll know it works

For Experiment Design

When brainstorming experiments:

1. Hypothesis clarity

   • Can you state the hypothesis in one sentence?
   • Is it falsifiable?
   • What would prove it wrong?

2. Methodology options

   • What data sources are available?
   • What tools/methods could be used?
   • What are the alternatives?

3. Controls and baselines

   • What's the null hypothesis?
   • What's the baseline to compare against?
   • How do we isolate the variable of interest?

4. Success criteria

   • What metrics determine success?
   • What thresholds are meaningful?
   • How do we handle negative results?

For Research Question Formulation

When brainstorming RQs:

1. Gap identification

   • What don't we know?
   • Why does it matter?
   • How does this fit the research goal?

2. Answerability

   • Can this be answered with available methods?
   • What evidence would answer it?
   • How confident can we be in the answer?

3. Scope

   • Is this too broad? Too narrow?
   • Can we answer it in the time available?
   • Does it lead to actionable conclusions?

Anti-Patterns

Don't:

• Jump straight to implementation
• Pick the first idea without exploring alternatives
• Make assumptions without stating them
• Skip the "what could go wrong" analysis
• Proceed with unclear requirements

Do:

• Take time to understand the problem
• Explore multiple approaches
• State assumptions explicitly
• Consider failure modes
• Document decisions and rationale

Output

After brainstorming, document:

# Design Decision: [Topic]

## Problem Statement
[Clear description of what we're solving]

## Requirements
[Functional and non-functional requirements]

## Approaches Considered
[At least 2-3 options with pros/cons]

## Chosen Approach
[Which approach and why]

## Trade-offs
[What we're accepting/giving up]

## Next Steps
[Concrete actions to implement]

Think first. Explore options. Then implement.