Research Brainstormer

Turn research ideas into rigorous, fast-iterating experimental designs with clear completion criteria.

Workflow

1. Understand → 2. Assess Tractability → 3. Design Experiments →
4. Design Iteration Rewards → 5. Prioritize → 6. Create Tasks → 7. Save Plan

Phase 1: Understand the Research Space

Ask clarifying questions ONE AT A TIME (prefer multiple choice):

• What sparked this idea? (intuition, observation, paper, failed experiment?)
• What would success look like?
• What's the fastest way to test if this has merit?

Phase 2: Tractability Assessment

Factor	Green	Yellow	Red
Experiment loop	< 1 day	1-7 days	> 1 week
Data	Have it	Can generate	Need to collect
Tooling	Exists	Minor mods	Build from scratch

If Red flags dominate: Consider pivoting. Low-hanging fruit is elsewhere.

Phase 3: Design Experiments

For each experiment, define:

## Experiment: {Name}

### Research Question
{One clear question this answers}

### Hypothesis
{Specific, falsifiable prediction}

### Variables
- **Independent**: {what you manipulate}
- **Dependent**: {what you measure}
- **Controls**: {what you hold constant}

### Methodology
1. {step-by-step procedure}
2. {data collection}
3. {analysis plan}

See plan-template.md for full template.

Phase 4: Design Iteration Rewards

Goal: Never implement >30 min without feedback.

For each experiment, define:

Check	Time	Question
Smoke test	<1 min	Does anything run?
Shape check	<1 min	Are dimensions correct?
Quick metric	<5 min	Accuracy on 10-50 samples?
Progress signal	Ongoing	What to log?
Pivot indicator	<30 min	When to abandon?

Template

## Iteration Rewards for: {experiment name}

**After 1 min**: {smoke test}
**After 5 min**: {quick metric on small sample}
**After 15 min**: {partial results expectation}
**After 30 min**: {pivot or persist decision}

**Progress signals to log**:
- {metric 1}
- {metric 2}

**Green flags (REQUIRED before done)**:
- [ ] {checkpoint 1 - must pass to be complete}
- [ ] {checkpoint 2}
- [ ] {checkpoint 3}

**Red flags (abandon immediately)**:
- {sign this approach won't work}

See validation-patterns.md for examples.

Phase 5: Prioritize

Rank by:

1. Information / Time - high info, low time first
2. Dependencies - what unblocks other experiments?
3. Swamp risk - safer bets early

Phase 6: Create Tasks

Use /todoist-task-creator skill. Project IDs:

• Astra Research Todo: 2363714334
• Research: 2363714490

Phase 7: Save Plan

REQUIRED: Write plan to .claude/plans/research_tasks/plan-{N}.md

1. Check existing: ls .claude/plans/research_tasks/plan-*.md
2. Create next numbered file
3. Use template from plan-template.md

This queue feeds into /research-executor skill.

Output Format

Present in sections (200-300 words each):

1. Context Summary
2. Tractability Assessment
3. Experiment Proposals (2-4, ranked)
4. Iteration Rewards (with green/red flags)
5. Recommended Path
6. Task Creation confirmation
7. Plan file location

After each section: "Does this look right so far?"

Key Principles

• One question at a time, prefer multiple choice
• YAGNI ruthlessly - simpler experiments are better
• Fast iteration > perfect design
• Green flags define "done" - not done until all checked
• Red flags mean pivot - don't persist in swamps

Related Skills

• /research-methodology - Ethan Perez's velocity tips
• /todoist-task-creator - structured task creation
• /research-executor - executes plans from queue
• /statistical-analysis - experiment design help