Plan Interview Skill

Transform rough plans into comprehensive, implementation-ready specifications through adaptive, structured interviews.

When to Use

• Converting a plan or idea into a detailed specification

• Gathering requirements through structured questioning

• Transforming rough documentation into implementation-ready specs

• Ensuring all edge cases, risks, and stakeholders are considered before implementation

Available Components

Command: /plan-interview:interview [plan-file]

Adaptive interview that calibrates depth based on plan complexity:

Complexity Signals Questions

Simple Single feature, clear scope 10-15

Moderate Multi-component, some integrations 18-23

Complex Cross-system, many stakeholders 22-28

Usage:

/plan-interview:interview docs/feature-plan.md

Output: docs/feature-plan-spec.md

Agent: spec-reviewer

Autonomous quality analysis of specifications across 4 dimensions:

• Completeness (25 pts) - All sections populated?

• Consistency (25 pts) - No contradictions?

• Clarity (25 pts) - No ambiguous language?

• Edge Cases (25 pts) - Error handling defined?

Triggers when you say "review my spec" or "check specification quality".

Interview Phases

• Foundations & Scope - Stakeholders, success criteria, constraints, MVP scope

• Technical Deep-Dive - Architecture, data models, scalability, security

• User Experience - Personas, flows, cognitive load, error recovery

• Risks & Tradeoffs - Risk categorization, blast radius, contingency plans

• Operationalization - Testing, deployment, monitoring

• Wrap-Up (optional) - Only for complex plans with remaining gaps

Interview Philosophy

Core Principle: Depth over breadth. Better to deeply understand critical aspects than superficially cover everything.

Key Techniques:

• Non-obvious questions - Skip what the plan already answers

• Edge probing - What happens in unusual cases?

• Assumption surfacing - Make implicit beliefs explicit

• Contradiction detection - Flag when answers don't align

• Adaptive depth - Probe deeper on complex areas, move faster on clear ones

Spec Output Structure

Generated specs include:

• Overview (problem, solution, success criteria, stakeholders)

• Functional and non-functional requirements

• Technical design (architecture, data models, APIs, security)

• User experience (personas, flows, states, edge cases)

• Risks and mitigations (risk register, tradeoffs, contingency plans)

• Implementation notes (key decisions, dependencies, migration)

• Operationalization (testing, deployment, monitoring)

• Open questions and out-of-scope items

• Phasing (MVP vs future)

References

Load these for deeper guidance during interviews:

• references/phase-1-clarifications.md

• Foundations questions and pitfalls

• references/phase-2-technical.md

• Architecture discussion patterns

• references/phase-3-ux.md

• Persona development, UX patterns

• references/phase-4-risks.md

• Risk assessment frameworks

• references/interview-techniques.md

• Cross-cutting interview skills

• references/example-spec.md

• Annotated high-quality spec example