--- title: "Session Types Reference" description: "Guide for identifying brainstorming context and recommending appropriate methods." type: skill canonical_url: https://claudary.paisolsolutions.com/skills/session-types source: "Claudary" difficulty: intermediate author: "Claude Code Knowledge Pack" date: 2026-07-10T11:46:42.307Z license: CC-BY-4.0 attribution: "Session Types Reference — Claudary (https://claudary.paisolsolutions.com/skills/session-types)" --- # Session Types Reference Guide for identifying brainstorming context and recommending appropriate methods. ## Overview # Session Types Reference Guide for identifying brainstorming context and recommending appropriate methods. ## Session Type Detection Listen for cues to identify the type of brainstorming session: | Session Type | Typical Triggers | | ------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------- | | **Product/SaaS Ideation** | "app idea," "SaaS," "product," "build," "startup," "MVP" | | **Content Ideation** | "newsletter," "article," "blog," "book," "chapter," "content" | | **Strategic Decision** | "should I," "deciding between," "weighing options," "strategic" | | **Problem Solving** | "stuck on," "can't figure out," "how do I," "challenge" | | **Creative/Artistic** | "story," "design," "creative," "artistic direction" | | **Business Model** | "pricing," "revenue," "business model," "monetization" | | **Positioning/Marketing** | "differentiate," "positioning," "messaging," "audience" | ## Recommended Methods by Session Type ### Product/SaaS Ideation **Core questions to answer:** - What problem does this solve? - Who specifically has this problem? - Why would they choose this over alternatives? - Can I build it? Should I? **Recommended methods:** 1. **Jobs-to-be-Done** — Understand the real need 2. **Audience Reality Check** — Validate the target user exists 3. **Competitive Analysis** — Map the landscape 4. **First Principles** — Challenge inherited assumptions 5. **Pre-mortem** — Identify failure modes before committing **Watch out for:** Falling in love with the solution before validating the problem. --- ### Content Ideation (Newsletter, Articles, Books) **Core questions to answer:** - What does my audience need to hear? - What do I have unique insight on? - What's the angle that makes this mine? - How does this fit my larger body of work? **Recommended methods:** 1. **Mind Mapping** — Explore the idea space 2. **Audience Reality Check** — Who specifically wants this? 3. **Forced Analogies** — Find fresh angles 4. **SCAMPER** — Vary existing ideas 5. **Telos Examination** — Why does this content matter? **Watch out for:** Writing what's easy instead of what's needed; chasing trends over building a body of work. --- ### Strategic Decision **Core questions to answer:** - What are my actual options? - What matters most in this decision? - What am I assuming? - What's the risk profile? **Recommended methods:** 1. **First Principles** — Clear away assumptions 2. **Weighted Scoring** — Make tradeoffs explicit 3. **Pre-mortem** — Test your leading option 4. **Steelman** — Argue for options you're dismissing 5. **10/10/10** — Check against time horizons **Watch out for:** Deciding before actually exploring options; confirmation bias. --- ### Problem Solving **Core questions to answer:** - What's the real problem? (Not the symptom) - What have I tried? - What assumptions am I making? - What would make this easy? **Recommended methods:** 1. **5 Whys** — Find the root cause 2. **Problem Reframing** — Restate the problem multiple ways 3. **Inversion** — What would guarantee failure? 4. **Forced Analogies** — How do other domains solve this? 5. **First Principles** — Strip to fundamentals **Watch out for:** Solving the wrong problem; jumping to solutions too fast. --- ### Business Model / Monetization **Core questions to answer:** - Who pays? For what value? - What's the pricing psychology? - How does this scale? - What's sustainable long-term? **Recommended methods:** 1. **Jobs-to-be-Done** — What are they really buying? 2. **Forced Analogies** — How do similar businesses price? 3. **First Principles** — What is price really? 4. **Assumption Surfacing** — What must be true for this model to work? 5. **Stewardship Frame** — Is this pricing faithful/fair? **Watch out for:** Underpricing; copying models that don't fit; leaving money on the table. --- ### Positioning / Marketing **Core questions to answer:** - Who is this for? (specifically) - What makes this different? - What's the one thing to remember? - Why should they believe me? **Recommended methods:** 1. **Audience Reality Check** — Get specific about who 2. **Steelman** — Argue for competitors 3. **Inversion** — How would I make this forgettable? 4. **SCAMPER** — Vary the positioning 5. **Forced Analogies** — How do non-competitors position? **Watch out for:** Being everything to everyone; forgettable positioning; claiming differentiation that doesn't matter to the audience. --- ## Session Energy Modes ### Deep Exploration Mode **Characteristics:** Long session, open-ended, divergent, willing to go down rabbit holes. **Approach:** - Use divergent methods freely - Allow tangents (but park off-topic items) - Don't rush to converge - Embrace ambiguity - End with synthesis, not decisions ### Quick Progress Mode **Characteristics:** Short session, focused, need to move forward, decisions over exploration. **Approach:** - Start with clear scope: "What decision do we need to make today?" - Use convergent methods primarily - Time-box divergent exploration (10 min max) - Make decisions and log them - End with next actions --- ## Mode Selection: Connected vs. Clean-Slate ### Connected Mode (Default) Cross-reference other projects and existing work. Surface connections like: - "This relates to your thinking on X" - "You explored something similar in [project]" - "This might conflict with what you decided about Y" - "This could feed into your newsletter/book/other project" **Best for:** Building on existing work, ensuring consistency, leveraging past thinking. ### Clean-Slate Mode No references to other projects or prior work. Fresh perspective. **Best for:** Genuinely new territory, avoiding anchoring, testing ideas without baggage. **When to suggest clean-slate:** When the user seems anchored on past approaches that aren't working, or when fresh thinking would benefit from starting over. --- Source: [Claudary](https://claudary.paisolsolutions.com/skills/session-types) · https://claudary.paisolsolutions.com