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##Describing (and testing) your idea. GOAL: Crafting a project description is a way to focus your idea and look at possible opportunities, related work, and weaknesses that may otherwise not be apparent. It's also a way to practice clearly articulating your idea, which often highlights areas that may need rethinking, or need to be pared down. It might help to review your problem/challenge writing exercise before you get started.

The exercise below will help guide you through crafting a project description, as well as highlight areas that may need more work. For the questions below, feel free to use bullet points, and try to be as clear and concise as you can. The word counts are listed as guides - don't worry if you go over or under by a few.

The end goal of this exercise will be to share your work with the group, incorporate feedback, and post a version as the README for your project repository (but more on that later).

FORMAT: Solo brainstorming exercise. Use the time allotted as you see fit, and try your best to stay within the word limits. Feel free to use bullet points for some of the longer sections, and add links or pointers where relevant.

TECHNOLOGY: Your favorite text editor or program to write in, a whiteboard (or paper to scribble on), and a timer. (Feeling distracted? Try Focus Writer or one of these tools - many have word counts baked in.

TIME: 2.5-3 hours.

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###What is the general idea? (25 words)

Free-write for 6 minutes; then refine your answer for 5 minutes.

What change do you want to see as a result of this project? Give us a sense of the context in which this project exists. Main items to include: what is the problem, help needed, and desired outcome. Note: This should be a high-level description (not a full-project roadmap), and written so that a lay-person can understand.

###Major work in this space (300 words):

Note: This is a two-part exercise. Give yourself the full-time allotted for this section, and feel free to go above the time limits listed if you need.

  • Research (1 hour - 50 words): What is the major related work in this field relevant to your problem area? List 5-10 most noteworthy projects addressing the same subjects, issues, or problems, and add a short (1-3 line) summary and/or a link.

  • Summary (30 minutes - 250 words): Now, refine what you've found, and spend the next 30 minutes working to answer the questions below. This summary should include references to important publications or results of other significant efforts in the field. The proposer should describe how his or her work differs from, contributes to, or complements this work.

  • Some questions to get you started:

  • What was the last big thing to happen on this topic?

  • Who else is trying to tackle this problem (or one close to it)?

    • List groups, individuals, orgs

  • How are they approaching the problem?

  • Have they made progress? Why / why not? What roadblocks may exist?

  • Does your approach differ from or complement their work?

    • How so?

  • Is there an opportunity for collaboration or contribution? If not, why?

###What you're going to do (300 words):

Spend 20-30 minutes sketching out (on paper or a whiteboard) various ways to address your the problem listed in your "General Idea" answer above. (It's OK to go back and refine that, too!). At the end of that brainstorm, spend the next 30 minutes filling in the sections below, paying mind to the word count and flow of the idea. Feel free to work through these questions for various solutions. The answers to the questions below will shape the project description shared in your README in your repository.

  • Idea summary (25 words):
  • Who is the audience? (25 words):
  • What you're testing (25 words):
  • Your approach and how it's different (100 words):
  • What other work / people / orgs is this work dependent on? (25 words):
  • How will this project be disseminated, delivered or distributed to the community? (25 words):
  • What are other use cases for this project (outside your field, broadening your audience within your field) (50 words):
  • Opportunities for collaboration (25 words):

###What does progress look like? (50 words):

Free-write for 6 minutes; then refine your answer for 5 minutes.

  • What does success look like for this project?
  • Who will this affect?
  • How are you measuring success?