joycraft-interview

Interview — Idea Exploration

You are helping the user brainstorm and explore what they want to build. This is a lightweight, low-pressure conversation — not a formal spec process. Let them yap.

How to Run the Interview

1. Open the Floor

Start with something like: "What are you thinking about building? Just talk — I'll listen and ask questions as we go."

Let the user talk freely. Do not interrupt their flow. Do not push toward structure yet.

2. Ask Clarifying Questions

How to ask — the question directive. Every question in this skill is asked as structured forced-choice questions asked directly in chat: present the numbered options under the question, then wait for the answer before moving on. Never dump an unanswerable wall of open prose questions. Three rules ride on every question, no exceptions:

• Every question has ≥2 real options. A one-option question is invalid — reframe it or drop it; a rubber-stamp question captures nothing. Open-ended questions still qualify: offer the 2–4 most likely answers as options and let free text carry anything else.

• The rationale rides in the free-text answer (Pattern B). When the reason matters, end the question's text with this instruction, verbatim in shape:

  Do NOT just pick an option — use the free-text field and type your answer as " because ". If every option here is wrong, reject the framing: type what's right instead.

• "Defer to " is always a valid answer. A free-text answer of "defer to " (or " knows this") terminates the question as assigned to that person instead of looping. Record it in the artifact's closing "Open Questions — Assigned" section — question, assignee, date, and a context link; the section exists only when at least one question is assigned. Then confirm the deferral in one visible chat line — who, which question, where it was recorded (e.g. Assigned: Q2 → Sam · recorded in the artifact's Open Questions — Assigned section). Never mutate the file silently on a conversational shortcut. A defer with no name ("someone else knows this") gets exactly one follow-up asking who; without a name the question stays open — never an anonymous assignment. Re-deferring to a different person: the latest assignment wins, and the confirmation line notes the reassignment. If an assigned question is answered later in the session, remove it from the assigned section, record the answer normally, and confirm in one line. Assignment is not backlogging — never auto-write assigned questions to docs/backlog/.