A basic universal structure for presenting ideas

Consider this:
What is the minimum information people need to know about a new idea?
In what order would they like to receive the information?

I propose the following structure:

● Abstract: What is your idea? Reduce it to a high concept summary.
● Why?: Why should it exist? List of benefits, solved problems, etc.
● How it works: Details that make it feasible.
● Everything else: Whatever the ideator feels is important to mention. A freestyle
area, unique to each individual idea.

High signal, low noise

Consider the kind of people that will be interested in your idea. Are they thinkers, problem
solvers, engineers, scientists, entrepreneurs, investors? One thing they all have in common:
they are busy. Everything around them competes for their attention. Chances are, they have
become intolerant of anything that wastes their time. So, whatever you want to say, get
straight to the point and keep it brief.

Don’t use attention-grabbing sentences only to disappoint the reader with little substance.
Replace all the hooks and baits with good ideas. Don’t worry about losing disinterested
readers. If the idea doesn’t get their attention, neither will all the literary trickery. The first
paragraph of your document IS the entire idea summarised. Even the busiest person should
be able to grasp it at a glance.

We share ideas to inspire others. It’s OK for the reader to stop reading and begin creating.
The sooner they’ve gotten what they needed to see, the sooner they can be creative
themselves. Write each section as if it was the last section the reader needs to see.

The sections explained

Title

Try to summarize the entire idea within the title. The goal is to let the reader understand it
from just reading the title alone. Aim to give the “secrets” away without requiring the reader
to read the rest.

Please consider not using ALL CAPS or Capitalizing Each First Letter Of The Title. Let’s
maintain some standards.

Abstract
The first paragraph of an idea should be a high concept summary. This is basically an
expanded version of the summarised title. It can include interesting aspects from any other
section (a problem it solves, how it works, what’s original about it, etc).

Why?

Everyone understands the meaning of “why?”. Any other way of putting it, it might not be
universal enough to cover all kinds of ideas, and it could become less explanatory. For
example, some alternative names for this section’s title could be: “Why this idea should
exist”, “The reason for being”, “Problems the idea solves”, etc. Still, just “Why?” explains it
better in my opinion.

If the idea achieves multiple benefits, they could be listed as bullet points.

Identifying the problems your idea solves helps people think of improvements. They might
find better ways of going about it.

How it works

In this section, we describe the mechanisms/methods/principles by which the idea works.

This is what makes it feasible.

Everything else

This is not a section. It’s simply a freestyle continuation of the idea description. Here you can
add any important info that didn't fit in the previous sections. It could have multiple
titles/sections that are unique to the idea.

Some additional useful bits of info

Below are a few concepts that were not clear to me 2 years ago when we first started the
Brainstorming project. You might find them useful.

What is an idea?

An idea is an attempt to solve a problem. How well it solves it can vary. Even just identifying
the problem counts as an early-stage idea. At that point we call it a challenge. This is the first
step on the problem-solving spectrum.

A bad idea and a good idea are both works in progress. One needs a shift in direction,
the other more iterations.

What is the difference between an idea and a challenge?

A challenge is an aspirational pursuit of an unknown solution. An idea is the exact same
thing, but with a solution in sight.

How do people come up with ideas?

All ideas come from creativity - our ultimate problem-solving tool. All human knowledge is
created as a result of problem-solving.

Ideas are built upon other ideas. Existing knowledge serves as the foundation for new ideas.

As we interact with the world around us, something eventually bothers us to the point that we
want to do something about it. Creativity is our go-to response when we face a problem.

The right person will experience a worthy problem as a personal challenge.

Why should people brainstorm with you?

If you want others to join forces with you make your challenges interesting, useful, and
educational.

What is the difference between invention and innovation?

An invention is a solution that is new and non-obvious.

Innovation is an existing solution made useful in a new way. It could be a remix of existing
solutions.