Brainstorm Idea: explore first, decide later

Overview

• Diverge before converging. Generate options first (users, angles, value props, features); pick winners only at the end.
• No judgment. Never say GO/KILL/PIVOT, never score the idea, never build cost tables. If the user asks "is it worth building", that is the

  idea-forge

  skill — offer it as the next step instead.
• Momentum over completeness. This is a conversation, not a form. Ask pointed questions when stuck, otherwise riff on what the user gives you.
• Language. Converse with the user in their language. Write the output note in English by default (portable if it flows into

  idea-forge

  ) unless the user asks otherwise.

Process

1. Capture the seed. Restate the idea back in 1–2 sentences and confirm you got it right. If the seed is a single vague sentence, that is fine — that is what this skill is for.
2. Explore (pick the angles that fit, skip the rest):
   • Problem reframes — what pain, for whom, how do they cope today?
   • Users & jobs — who specifically, what job-to-be-done?
   • Value props — 2–3 variants of "why this wins".
   • Core loop & feature sketches — the one loop that must work; must-have vs nice-to-have.
   • Monetization hypotheses — who pays, for what value metric?
   • Risks & unknowns — what could kill it, what we don't know.
   Techniques live in references/techniques.md — read it only if you feel stuck repeating yourself.
3. Converge. Name the sharpest formulation in one paragraph plus the top 3 open questions that would unblock a real evaluation.
4. Write the output (see below): a chat summary first, then the note file only if the user wants to continue toward evaluation/build.

Output structure

idea-forge

.idea-dev/<project-slug>/00-brainstorm.md

<project-slug>

idea-forge

# Brainstorm: <working title>
Slug: <project-slug>
Seed: <the user's original one-liner, verbatim-ish>

## Reframes
<2–4 problem angles: pain + who + current workaround each>

## Users & jobs
<segments + the job each hires this product for>

## Value props
<2–3 variants of why this wins>

## Core loop & feature sketches
<the one loop that must work; must-have vs nice-to-have>

## Monetization hypotheses
<who pays, for what value metric — hypotheses, not verdicts>

## Risks & unknowns
<what could kill it; what we could NOT verify>

## Sharpest formulation
<one paragraph: what it is, for whom, why now-ish>

## Suggested next step
<e.g., "run idea-forge P1–P3 with this note" / "park it" / "talk to N users first">

Handoff to idea-forge

idea-forge

00-brainstorm.md

References

• references/techniques.md — divergent-thinking techniques (SCAMPER-lite, 5 Whys, JTBD, inversion, analogies). For when exploration stalls.