Brainstorm Diverge-Converge

Table of Contents

• Purpose
• When to Use This Skill
• What is Brainstorm Diverge-Converge?
• Workflow
  • 1. Gather Requirements
  • 2. Diverge (Generate Ideas)
  • 3. Cluster (Group Themes)
  • 4. Converge (Evaluate & Select)
  • 5. Document & Validate
• Common Patterns
• Guardrails
• Quick Reference

Purpose

Apply structured divergent-convergent thinking to generate many creative options, organize them into meaningful clusters, then systematically evaluate and narrow to the strongest choices. This balances creative exploration with disciplined decision-making.

When to Use This Skill

• Generating product or feature ideas
• Exploring solution approaches for open-ended problems
• Developing research questions or hypotheses
• Creating marketing or content strategies
• Identifying strategic initiatives or opportunities
• Designing experiments or tests
• Naming products, features, or projects
• Developing interview questions or survey items
• Exploring design alternatives (UI, architecture, process)
• Prioritizing from a large possibility space
• Overcoming creative blocks
• When you need both quantity (many options) and quality (best options)

Trigger phrases: "brainstorm", "generate ideas", "explore options", "what are all the ways", "divergent thinking", "ideation", "evaluate alternatives", "narrow down choices"

What is Brainstorm Diverge-Converge?

A three-phase creative problem-solving method:

• Diverge (Expand): Generate many ideas without judgment or filtering. Focus on quantity and variety. Defer evaluation.

• Cluster (Organize): Group similar ideas into themes or categories. Identify patterns and connections. Create structure from chaos.

• Converge (Select): Evaluate ideas against criteria. Score, rank, or prioritize. Select strongest options for action.

Quick Example:

# Problem: How to improve customer onboarding?

## Diverge (30 ideas)
- In-app video tutorials
- Interactive walkthroughs
- Email drip campaign
- Live webinar onboarding
- 1-on-1 concierge calls
- ... (25 more ideas)

## Cluster (6 themes)
1. **Self-serve content** (videos, docs, tooltips)
2. **Interactive guidance** (walkthroughs, checklists)
3. **Human touch** (calls, webinars, chat)
4. **Motivation** (gamification, progress tracking)
5. **Timing** (just-in-time help, preemptive)
6. **Social** (community, peer examples)

## Converge (Top 3)
1. Interactive walkthrough (high impact, medium effort) - 8.5/10
2. Email drip campaign (medium impact, low effort) - 8.0/10
3. Just-in-time tooltips (medium impact, low effort) - 7.5/10

Workflow

Copy this checklist and track your progress:

Brainstorm Progress:
- [ ] Step 1: Gather requirements
- [ ] Step 2: Diverge (generate ideas)
- [ ] Step 3: Cluster (group themes)
- [ ] Step 4: Converge (evaluate and select)
- [ ] Step 5: Document and validate

Step 1: Gather requirements

Clarify topic/problem (what are you brainstorming?), goal (what decision will this inform?), constraints (must-haves, no-gos, boundaries), evaluation criteria (what makes an idea "good" - impact, feasibility, cost, speed, risk, alignment), target quantity (suggest 20-50 ideas), and rounds (single session or multiple rounds, default: 1).

Step 2: Diverge (generate ideas)

Generate 20-50 ideas without judgment or filtering. Suspend criticism (all ideas valid during divergence), aim for quantity and variety (different types, scales, approaches), and use creative prompts: "What if unlimited resources?", "What would competitor do?", "Simplest approach?", "Most ambitious?", "Unconventional alternatives?". Output: Numbered list of raw ideas. For simple topics → generate directly. For complex topics → Use resources/template.md for structured prompts.

Step 3: Cluster (group themes)

Organize ideas into 4-8 distinct clusters by identifying patterns, creating categories (mechanism, user/audience, timeline, effort, risk, strategic objective), naming clusters clearly, and checking coverage (distinct approaches). Fewer than 4 = not enough variety, more than 8 = too fragmented. Output: Ideas grouped under cluster labels.

Step 4: Converge (evaluate and select)

Define criteria (from step 1), score ideas on criteria (1-10 or Low/Med/High scale), rank by total/weighted score, select top 3-5 options, and document tradeoffs (why chosen, what deprioritized). Evaluation patterns: Impact/Effort matrix, weighted scoring, must-have filtering, pairwise comparison. See Common Patterns for domain-specific approaches.

Step 5: Document and validate

Create brainstorm-diverge-converge.md with: problem statement, diverge (full list), cluster (organized themes), converge (scored/ranked/selected), and next steps. Validate using resources/evaluators/rubric_brainstorm_diverge_converge.json: verify 20+ ideas with variety, distinct clusters, explicit criteria, consistent scoring, top selections clearly better, actionable next steps. Minimum standard: Score ≥ 3.5.

Common Patterns

For product/feature ideation:

• Diverge: 30-50 feature ideas
• Cluster by: User need, use case, or feature type
• Converge: Impact vs. effort scoring
• Select: Top 3-5 for roadmap

For problem-solving:

• Diverge: 20-40 solution approaches
• Cluster by: Mechanism (how it solves problem)
• Converge: Feasibility vs. effectiveness
• Select: Top 2-3 to prototype

For research questions:

• Diverge: 25-40 potential questions
• Cluster by: Research method or domain
• Converge: Novelty, tractability, impact
• Select: Top 3-5 to investigate

For strategic planning:

• Diverge: 20-30 strategic initiatives
• Cluster by: Time horizon or strategic pillar
• Converge: Strategic value vs. resource requirements
• Select: Top 5 for quarterly planning

Guardrails

Do:

• Generate at least 20 ideas in diverge phase (quantity matters)
• Suspend judgment during divergence (criticism kills creativity)
• Create distinct clusters (avoid overlap and confusion)
• Use explicit, relevant criteria for convergence (not vague "goodness")
• Score consistently across all ideas
• Document why top ideas were selected (transparency)
• Include "runner-up" ideas (for later consideration)

Don't:

• Filter ideas during divergence (defeats the purpose)
• Create clusters that are too similar or overlapping
• Use vague evaluation criteria ("better", "more appealing")
• Cherry-pick scores to favor pet ideas
• Select ideas without systematic evaluation
• Ignore constraints from requirements gathering
• Skip documentation of the full process

Quick Reference

• Template: resources/template.md - Structured prompts and techniques for diverge-cluster-converge
• Quality rubric: resources/evaluators/rubric_brainstorm_diverge_converge.json
• Output file: brainstorm-diverge-converge.md
• Typical idea count: 20-50 ideas → 4-8 clusters → 3-5 selections
• Common criteria: Impact, Feasibility, Cost, Speed, Risk, Alignment