Ideate

Generate multiple design options for "$ARGUMENTS" before committing to a single approach. Encourage creative exploration by producing at least 3 distinct options.

Arguments. $ARGUMENTS may contain the project name and optional flags. Take the first token as <project> and treat --skip-checks as a flag; never include flags in file paths. All paths below use <project>. If --skip-checks is present, skip the prerequisite check and, before writing any artifact, append one line to .singularskills/log.jsonl: {"ts":"<ISO timestamp>","skill":"design-ideate","workflow":"design","phase":3,"project":"<project>","event":"skipped","artifact":"03-ideate.md","note":"<reason or \"none given\">"}.

Prerequisites

Part of a workflow. This skill is phase 3 (Ideate) of the Design Thinking workflow (design); cross-domain workflows run it too. First check .singularskills/log.jsonl for an open run for this project: a run-started line with "project":"<project>" and no later run-finished line for the same workflow and project. If one exists, the conductor is running you: continue here. Otherwise, if the user asked to start, run, continue or resume a process or workflow rather than this one step, do not continue here: invoke the workflow skill with the workflow the user asked for, or design when they named none, followed by <project>; it runs this phase in order, asks before it writes and records the run. Otherwise continue here: a later phase runs on its own, behind its gate.

Figma. Steps marked Figma use a Figma MCP server you connect to this agent yourself; this pack ships none and makes no network calls. Before you ask the user anything or run the first such step, list the tools available to you and bind each capability the step names to one tool, as references/figma-capabilities.md, bundled with this skill, describes: the official Figma server's tool named there, else any tool whose description plainly does the same thing. With a capability bound, take the file key and node id from a Figma link in the request or the conversation, else from the file: line of the ## Tools section of the latest earlier artifact of this project that has one; when a bound capability needs one and there is none, ask for the link once, with any other question you ask. With nothing bound, never ask for a link. Record the result in a ## Tools section after any ## Recalled section: a - file: line (the Design file; a board or a deck goes on a - board: or - deck: line), one line per bound capability (- read-tokens: get_variable_defs (figma)), and a - created: line for node ids you created; or the single line No Figma server: steps marked Figma ran without one.; a skill with no artifact says the same in its summary. For an unbound capability do what the step's Without Figma line says, using first any values the user gave in the request or in files it names: never ask the user to connect a server, never invent values a tool would have returned, and never report a step as run when it was not.

Run this skill's gate before writing: sh <this skill's folder>/scripts/gate.sh <project> <project root>, where <project root> is the folder that contains .singularskills/ (use . when you are already there). If it exits non-zero, stop and tell the user what it printed, unless --skip-checks was given (see Arguments). On a refusal, before you stop, append this line to .singularskills/log.jsonl (create the folder and file if missing): {"ts":"<ISO timestamp>","skill":"design-ideate","workflow":"design","phase":3,"project":"<project>","event":"refused","artifact":"03-ideate.md","note":"<what the gate printed>"}. Once the gate has passed, or under --skip-checks once you have appended the skipped line, append this line before you start work: {"ts":"<ISO timestamp>","skill":"design-ideate","workflow":"design","phase":3,"project":"<project>","event":"started","artifact":"03-ideate.md","note":""}.

Read .singularskills/design/<project>/02-define.md. If this file does not exist, tell the user:

Phase 2 (Define) has not been completed for "<project>". Run /design-define-component <project> first, or use --skip-checks to bypass.

Process

1. Read context files:

   • Read .singularskills/design/<project>/01-empathize.md for research findings (if exists)
   • Read .singularskills/design/<project>/02-define.md for the component contract
   • Read references/wcag-criteria.md for accessibility constraints

2. Read the design system. Figma (read-tokens): read the file's variables and styles for the token values each option maps to. Without Figma: read the values the user gave (in the request or in files it names), then the project's own token sources (a tokens package, CSS custom properties, a Tailwind config), else map options to token roles and mark the values not checked.

3. Generate 3+ design options. For each option:

   • Describe the visual approach and layout strategy
   • Map which tokens from the design system would be used
   • Evaluate against the component contract's constraints
   • Assess accessibility compliance
   • Note trade-offs (complexity, flexibility, consistency)

4. Board the options (only when the request or the conversation gives a figma.com/board/ link). Figma (write-figjam): add one sticky per option and a table with the comparison matrix to that board, and record the board link on a - board: line of the ## Tools section (never on the - file: line). Without Figma: skip this step; the comparison matrix in the artifact is the board.

5. Recommend one approach with clear rationale explaining why it best satisfies the component contract.

6. Write the artifact to .singularskills/design/<project>/03-ideate.md

Output

The ideation document written to .singularskills/design/<project>/03-ideate.md. Present a summary to the user highlighting:

• Number of options explored
• Recommended approach and rationale
• Key trade-offs between options
• Any contract constraints that were difficult to satisfy

Record the run. After you have written the artifact, append this line to .singularskills/log.jsonl (the started line of Prerequisites, with "event":"finished"): {"ts":"<ISO timestamp>","skill":"design-ideate","workflow":"design","phase":3,"project":"<project>","event":"finished","artifact":"03-ideate.md","note":""}.

Open the artifact with this frontmatter (agent is the agent you run in, or unknown; gate is passed when the gate ran clean and skipped under --skip-checks):

---
skill: design-ideate
workflow: design
phase: 3
project: <project>
started: <ISO timestamp>
finished: <ISO timestamp>
agent: <the agent you run in, or "unknown">
gate: <passed|skipped>
---

End the artifact with ## Decisions and ## Open questions, in this shape:

## Decisions
- <what was chosen> — <why> — <what was rejected>

## Open questions
- <what the next phase or a reviewer must settle>