pm-skills/pm-product-discovery/commands/brainstorm.md

description, argument-hint

description	argument-hint
Brainstorm product ideas or experiments from PM, Designer, and Engineer perspectives — for existing or new products	[ideas|experiments] [existing|new] <product or feature description>

/brainstorm -- Multi-Perspective Ideation

Generate creative product ideas or experiment designs from three perspectives (PM, Designer, Engineer), tailored to whether you're working on an existing product or building something new.

Invocation

/brainstorm ideas existing Mobile banking app engagement
/brainstorm ideas new AI-powered meal planning for busy parents
/brainstorm experiments existing Onboarding flow redesign
/brainstorm experiments new Marketplace for freelance designers
/brainstorm                          # interactive mode — asks what you need

Workflow

Step 1: Determine Mode

Parse the arguments to identify two dimensions:

1. What to brainstorm: ideas (feature concepts) or experiments (validation tests)
2. Product stage: existing (continuous discovery) or new (initial discovery)

If either dimension is missing, ask the user. If both are missing, ask:

• "Are you brainstorming ideas for what to build, or experiments to validate assumptions?"
• "Is this for an existing product or a new product concept?"

Step 2: Gather Context

Ask the user for context. Be conversational — ask the most critical question first:

For existing products:

• What is the product? Who are current users?
• What opportunity area or problem space are you exploring?
• Any constraints (technical debt, platform limitations, team capacity)?
• What has been tried before?

For new products:

• What is the product concept? What problem does it solve?
• Who is the target user? What's their current alternative?
• What stage are you at? (napkin sketch, validated problem, early prototype)
• What are the riskiest assumptions?

Accept context from uploaded files (PRDs, research docs, strategy decks), pasted text, or conversation.

Step 3: Generate Output

If brainstorming ideas — apply the brainstorm-ideas-existing or brainstorm-ideas-new skill:

• Generate ideas from three perspectives: Product Manager (user value, business impact), Designer (UX, delight, accessibility), Engineer (technical innovation, platform leverage, scalability)
• For each idea: name, description, target user impact, feasibility assessment
• Rank the top 5 ideas with rationale
• Flag which ideas could be quick wins vs. strategic bets

If brainstorming experiments — apply the brainstorm-experiments-existing or brainstorm-experiments-new skill:

• For existing products: suggest A/B tests, prototypes, fake-door tests, wizard-of-oz, concierge experiments, and spikes
• For new products: create XYZ+S hypotheses and suggest pretotype experiments (landing pages, explainer videos, pre-orders, concierge MVPs)
• For each experiment: hypothesis, method, success criteria, effort estimate, expected timeline
• Rank by learning-per-effort ratio

Step 4: Deepen and Iterate

After presenting initial results, offer:

• "Want me to detail any of these ideas into a fuller spec?"
• "Should I identify assumptions behind the top ideas?" (chains into the identify-assumptions-existing or identify-assumptions-new skill)
• "Want to design experiments to validate the top ideas?" (chains into experiment mode)
• "Should I prioritize these against your current backlog?" (chains into the prioritize-features skill)

Output Format

For Ideas:

## Brainstorm: [Product/Feature Area]
**Mode**: Ideas for [existing/new] product
**Context**: [1-2 sentence summary]

### PM Perspective
1. **[Idea Name]** — [description] | Impact: [H/M/L] | Effort: [H/M/L]
2. ...

### Designer Perspective
1. **[Idea Name]** — [description] | Impact: [H/M/L] | Effort: [H/M/L]
2. ...

### Engineer Perspective
1. **[Idea Name]** — [description] | Impact: [H/M/L] | Effort: [H/M/L]
2. ...

### Top 5 Recommendations
| Rank | Idea | Why | Quick Win? |
|------|------|-----|------------|

### Next Steps
[What to do with these ideas]

For Experiments:

## Experiment Design: [Product/Feature Area]
**Mode**: Experiments for [existing/new] product

### Hypotheses
1. **[Hypothesis]** — XYZ format: [X]% of [Y] will [Z] within [S timeframe]

### Recommended Experiments
| # | Experiment | Tests Hypothesis | Method | Effort | Timeline |
|---|-----------|-----------------|--------|--------|----------|

### Experiment Details
[For each experiment: setup, success criteria, risks, what you'll learn]

Notes

• For existing products, ground ideas in current user behavior and validated problems
• For new products, focus on desirability and feasibility risks first
• If the user uploads a research doc or interview transcript, extract insights before brainstorming
• Encourage breadth first, then depth — generate many ideas before evaluating