Two design skills · both proven

brainstorming vs prototype

Both skills were run through Claude twice: once on a fixed brief without the skill, once with it. The briefs differ because each is written for the job the skill claims to do, so compare each skill against its own baseline, then decide which difference matters for your work.

brainstorming

You MUST use this before any creative work - creating features, building components, adding functionality, modifying behavior, or planning anything new, in software or out of it (a talk, a business, a renovation).

Category: Design
Source: obra/superpowers
License: MIT
Proof model: claude-opus-5-5
Brief: “A small bakery with one location wants more weekday morning customers. They have a loyal weekend crowd, an Instagram account with 2,000 followers, and no budget for paid ads. Work through this with me and produce the result as a single HTML page: the questions you would ask, the ideas you considered, the three you recommend with how to test each one in two weeks, and what you would measure.”
Skill commit: b739a8a

Without the skillWith brainstorming

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Without, runWith brainstorming, run3 independent runs per side, none selected by hand.

Download the with-skill page

prototype

Build a throwaway prototype to answer a design question. Use when the user wants to sanity-check whether a state model or logic feels right, or explore what a UI should look like.

Category: Design
Source: mattpocock/skills
License: MIT
Proof model: claude-opus-5-5
Brief: “We are designing the order state model for a food delivery app. An order can be placed, accepted by the restaurant, being prepared, ready for pickup, picked up by a courier, and delivered. The customer can cancel until the restaurant starts preparing; the restaurant can cancel at any time before pickup; a cancellation after payment triggers a refund, partial if food was already prepared. We are not sure this logic is right. Build a throwaway prototype as a single HTML page that lets someone on the team drive an order through these states and see where the rules break or get confusing.”
Skill commit: 5beb35b

Without the skillWith prototype

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Without, runWith prototype, run3 independent runs per side, none selected by hand.

Download the with-skill page

We don’t pick a winner for you: the pages are the evidence. Both proofs can be repeated with the brief, model and commit shown above. See alternatives to brainstorming or alternatives to prototype.