brainstorminglisted

# Brainstorming Ideas Into Designs Turn rough ideas into approved designs through collaborative dialogue before implementation. This is a **design gate**. Do not write code, scaffold files, modify behavior, or invoke implementation workflows until you have presented a design and the user has approved it. ## When to Use Use before: - Creating features or products - Building components - Adding functionality - Changing existing behavior - Turning a vague idea into a plan Do not skip because the task seems simple. Simple tasks can have short designs, but unexamined assumptions still cause wasted work. ## Checklist Create and complete tasks in this order: 1. **Explore context** — inspect relevant files, docs, existing behavior, and recent commits when a codebase exists. 2. **Assess scope** — if the request spans multiple independent subsystems, pause and propose decomposition before refining details. 3. **Ask clarifying questions** — one at a time; prefer multiple-choice questions when helpful. 4. **Propose 2–3 approaches** — include trade-offs and your recommendation. 5. **Present the design** — section by section, scaled to complexity; get user approval as you go. 6. **Write the design doc** — save the approved design to `docs/superpowers/specs/YYYY-MM-DD-<topic>-design.md`, unless the user or project has a different preferred location. 7. **Self-review the spec** — fix placeholders, contradictions, ambiguity, and scope creep. 8. **Ask the user to review the written sp