Brainstorming

When to use

• User says "what do you think about X?"
• Requirements feel fuzzy.
• Multiple viable approaches exist.

How

1. Ask before proposing. Surface constraints the user hasn't stated: latency budget, cost ceiling, audience, reversibility.
2. Offer 2–3 options, not one. Each with tradeoffs. Make the tradeoffs crisp — "Option A: 2× faster but requires Redis. Option B: no new infra but 400ms latency."
3. Recommend one, with the reason. Say "I'd pick A because our free-tier Upstash already covers Redis and the latency budget is 200ms."
4. Stop at 2–3 sentences per option. Long essays bury the decision.

Anti-patterns

• Enumerating every conceivable approach (paralysis).
• Recommending without naming the tradeoff (hides the risk).
• Jumping straight to code (skips the decision).
• Burying the recommendation at the end of a 500-word block.