An idea is an invitation to investigate. Before committing to the first solution, spend time with the problem: who experiences it, how often it occurs, and what people already do to work around it. A clever answer to the wrong question can consume a great deal of effort without making life easier for anyone.
Separate the outcome from the proposed solution. “We need a new dashboard” is a solution. “People cannot tell which work needs attention” describes a problem worth understanding. The second statement leaves room for several useful answers, including answers that require less technology.
Write down the assumptions that would have to be true for the idea to work. Do people experience the problem often enough to change their behavior? Can the people doing the work actually use the proposed solution? What would have to change around it? An assumption becomes easier to examine once it is visible.
Choose one assumption to test. Talk to someone who experiences the problem, observe the current workflow, or put a simple prototype in front of a potential user. Ask about the last time the problem happened rather than whether an imagined future product sounds appealing.
Decide in advance what evidence would change the plan. If every response counts as encouragement, the experiment cannot teach you much. A useful test gives you permission to revise the idea, narrow it, or set it aside.
Thinking bigger can begin with a smaller, more useful question: what would make a meaningful difference to the person on the other side? Keep that question close as the idea develops.
Continue the conversation