Brainstorming Ideas
Quick Start
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Diverge (20 min) - Generate 20+ ideas with no judgment
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Explore (10 min) - Combine, connect, flesh out themes
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Converge (15 min) - Evaluate against criteria, prioritize
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Select - Pick top 3 with clear rationale
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Document - Capture all ideas and decisions for future reference
Features
Feature Description Guide
Divergent Phase Generate many options Quantity over quality, no judgment
SCAMPER Systematic modification Substitute, Combine, Adapt, Modify, Put to use, Eliminate, Reverse
Mind Mapping Visual connections Central topic with branching ideas
Reverse Brainstorm Learn from failure "How to guarantee failure?" -> prevention
Role Storming Different perspectives Junior dev, security expert, user personas
Starbursting Question-based Who, What, When, Where, Why, How
Common Patterns
Divergent Phase Rules
- Quantity over quality - aim for 20+ ideas
- No judgment - all ideas valid
- Wild ideas welcome - sparks creativity
- Build on others - "Yes, and..."
- Time-box - prevent over-analysis
SCAMPER Framework
S - SUBSTITUTE: Different tech stack? Team structure? C - COMBINE: Merge features? Hybrid approaches? A - ADAPT: From other industries? Products? M - MODIFY/MAGNIFY: Bigger/smaller? Faster/slower? P - PUT TO OTHER USES: Different users? Problems? E - ELIMINATE: Remove features? Simplify? R - REVERSE: Opposite approach? Different order?
Reverse Brainstorm
Goal: Build reliable API Reversed: How to make MOST unreliable API?
| Failure Idea | Prevention Strategy |
|---|---|
| No error handling | Comprehensive try/catch |
| Single point of failure | Redundancy, load balancing |
| No monitoring | Prometheus + Grafana |
| Deploy on Fridays | Change freeze policies |
Prioritization Matrix
| Idea | Impact | Effort | Score | Priority |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | High | Low | 9 | 1st |
| B | High | High | 6 | 3rd |
| C | Medium | Low | 7 | 2nd |
Role Storming Perspectives
TECHNICAL:
- Junior Dev: "What's confusing?"
- Security Expert: "What vulnerabilities?"
- DevOps: "How to deploy/monitor?"
USER:
- Power User: "Advanced features needed?"
- New User: "Is this intuitive?"
- Frustrated User: "What's annoying?"
EXTERNAL:
- Competitor: "How would we copy this?"
- Hacker: "How to exploit this?"
Best Practices
Do Avoid
Set clear time limits per phase Judging ideas during divergent phase
Capture ALL ideas, even "bad" ones Letting dominant voices control
Build on others' ideas with "Yes, and..." Skipping exploration phase
Use visual tools (mind maps, boards) Converging too early
Vote anonymously to avoid groupthink Brainstorming without clear goal
Follow up with action items Abandoning ideas without evaluation
Mix individual and group ideation Sessions over 60 minutes
Create safety for wild ideas Forgetting to capture reasoning
Related Skills
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thinking-sequentially
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Structure exploration
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writing-plans
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Turn ideas into plans
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solving-problems
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Generate solution hypotheses
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dispatching-parallel-agents
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Parallel idea exploration