"One simple thing" SICamp tutorial on how to refine your idea, by Glen Mehn

1. What’s your one simple thing?
Now you’ve got the beginning of an idea, the next step is to explain it in
one simple sentence.
You’ll find five questions here that will help you narrow your focus and
work out what it is you’re really trying to build.
Give a one-word answer to each and write it on a post-it note. Then
follow the instructions you’ll find at the end.

2. 1.) Who are the main people you are
trying to help?
• Young people?
• Friends and family?
• Isolated people?
• Older people?
• Schools?
• Local companies?
• Anyone!

3. 2.) Is there any other group who’d need to
use your idea to make it work?
• Young people?
• Schools?
• Friends and family?
• Youth workers?
• Service providers?
• Teachers?
• The council?

4. 3.) What’s the primary thing your
users will do?
• Meet up in the real world?
• Exchange things?
• Campaign for something?
• Find information?
• Access services?
• Improve an existing service?
• Become part of a completely new
service?

5. 4.) What will someone using your service
get out of it?
• A lift to work?
• People to play football with?
• Information about benefits?
• A new job?

6. 5.) What’s the main technology your idea
will use?
• Mobile phones?
• An app that sits on another service
e.g. Facebook?
• A website?

7. So now what’s your one simple thing?
Now you've got some simple answers to those questions, try and
re-formulate your idea into a single sentence.
This might help you:
NAME OF IDEA is a TECHNOLOGY PLATFORM (5) to help USERS
(1) and OTHER USERS (2) to SERVICE (3 + 4)

8. What would Google say about you?
If I searched for your site, what would Google tell me about it?
Keep it short and sweet!
______________________________________________
______________________________________________
______________________________________________
______________________________________________
______________________________________________
______________________________________________

9. Think of an analogy
It's eBay for learning; it's Google Maps for
Festivals, it’s Facebook for museums; it’s
LastMinute.com for football pitches!

10. Draw a simple user-journey
Map out each step someone coming to your
site would make. Flow diagrams and arrows
help.
e.g. user(s) come to the site, something
happens online, something happens offline,
users come away happy!