Idea Refine

Refines raw ideas into sharp, actionable concepts worth building through structured divergent and convergent thinking.

How It Works

1. Understand & Expand (Divergent): Restate the idea, ask sharpening questions, and generate variations.
2. Evaluate & Converge: Cluster ideas, stress-test them, and surface hidden assumptions.
3. Sharpen & Ship: Produce a concrete markdown one-pager.

Trigger Phrases

• "Help me refine this idea"
• "Ideate on [concept]"
• "Stress-test my plan"

Process

Phase 1: Understand & Expand (Divergent)

1. Restate the idea as a crisp "How Might We" problem statement.

2. Ask 3-5 sharpening questions:

   • Who is this for, specifically?
   • What does success look like?
   • What are the real constraints?
   • What's been tried before?
   • Why now?

3. Generate 5-8 idea variations using these lenses:

   • Inversion: "What if we did the opposite?"
   • Constraint removal: "What if budget/time/tech weren't factors?"
   • Audience shift: "What if this were for [different user]?"
   • Combination: "What if we merged this with [adjacent idea]?"
   • Simplification: "What's the version that's 10x simpler?"
   • 10x version: "What would this look like at massive scale?"

Phase 2: Evaluate & Converge

1. Cluster ideas that resonated into 2-3 distinct directions.

2. Stress-test each direction:

   • User value: Who benefits and how much?
   • Feasibility: What's the technical cost?
   • Differentiation: What makes this genuinely different?

3. Surface hidden assumptions:

   • What you're betting is true (but haven't validated)
   • What could kill this idea
   • What you're choosing to ignore

Phase 3: Sharpen & Ship

Produce a markdown one-pager:

# [Idea Name]

## Problem Statement
[One-sentence "How Might We" framing]

## Recommended Direction
[The chosen direction and why]

## Key Assumptions to Validate
- [ ] [Assumption 1 — how to test it]
- [ ] [Assumption 2 — how to test it]

## MVP Scope
[The minimum version that tests the core assumption]

## Not Doing (and Why)
- [Thing 1] — [reason]
- [Thing 2] — [reason]

Verification

After completing an ideation session:

• A clear "How Might We" problem statement exists
• The target user and success criteria are defined
• Multiple directions were explored
• Hidden assumptions are explicitly listed
• A "Not Doing" list makes trade-offs explicit
• The output is a concrete artifact
• The user confirmed the final direction