Online project environment: solution. Part 1

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    Introduction


    In a previous article , the problem of the lack of a favorable online environment for implementing projects in various fields of human activity (ecology, science, IT, business, education, etc.) was described. In this article I want to offer one of the solutions for creating such an environment.

    What is an online project environment?

    Online project environment is an information system that covers all phases of the project process and allows you to effectively implement projects in various fields of human activity via the Internet.

    The main idea is to create a system where any person, regardless of their level of knowledge and experience in the implementation of projects, the availability of necessary resources and a team, will be able to implement any project in different areas of human activity, provided that his project solves the real problem .

    This article will describe the first phase of the design process - the Idea phase.

    Part 1. Phase of the idea - we bring the idea to the concept.


    Unfortunately, many people do not consider this phase as part of the project process. Usually a ready-made concept is required from the project author. But the path from concept to concept is not so simple and requires a certain approach. Below I tried to present one of the options for this approach:

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    It starts with a plan

    It happens that you sit in the toilet , walk along the street, watch a movie, and then suddenly from the depths of consciousness you are illuminated by a mega-super idea . At first, an idea is just an idea - something amorphous, vague, indefinite. The idea can be expressed in one sentence, paragraph, page. It can be text, drawing, smart card. So the idea is the first stage of the idea phase, which consists in the competent formulation and description of what was conceived in a free form.

    We check the plan for viability

    In order not to be in a situation where your mega-super idea will be brilliant only for you and a couple of friends in the house, and for the rest it will be complete nonsense, you need to check the initial plan for vitality. How to do it? You need to share your plan with the rest of the world: family, friends, the Internet community, etc. And the more people will be involved in this process, the more reviews you will receive, the more chances are that the idea will be viable in the process of its development and implementation.

    Brainstorming

    There are many ways to generate ideas and solutions: sit down to smoke parsley, google on an empty stomach, stand on your head, but one of the most effective is the brainstorming method . The author of the idea collects a group of people who are somehow connected with the topic of the idea (this is a very desirable criterion), designates topics for a brainstorming session, and the team searches for solutions to each problem (generating solutions). After this, it remains only to analyze the solutions obtained and select the best of them.

    We transform an idea into a concept

    Some people think that a pure idea has some material value. Therefore, they are very worried that enterprising brains can shamelessly steal their idea. But this is one very big mistake . Ideas are in the air. If you got a brilliant idea, it means that another 10-100 people in this world are already rushing with this idea. Collective unconscious , in a word. But the concept, as a logical stage in the development of the idea, is of real value, because it means that the author of the idea has studied the subject area, problems, found effective ways to implement the idea, etc.

    The concept itself is a document with a certain structure, which depends on the characteristics of the idea (scope, scale, complexity, etc.). But at the same time, a certain general structure characteristic of all concepts can be distinguished:
    • Problem - a description of the problem that will be solved with the successful implementation of the idea.
    • The solution is a description of the solution to this problem itself.
    • The keys to success are the highlight of the idea.
    • Environment - a description of all subjects that may be affected by the implementation of an idea (target audience, competitors, state, etc.).


    Possible implementation


    Now imagine that the scheme described above will be implemented on the Internet. How much could this increase the quality of the proposed ideas (and subsequently concepts) and how would this help to avoid creating all kinds of duplicate and useless startups? One of the possible implementations may be a site where any user can publish his plan and, with the help of special functionality and community support, bring it to the concept. In short, this algorithm looks like a sequence of three stages:

    Check

    The author publishes his plan in free form to the community, which for a certain time checks it for adequacy and viability, that is, decides whether its further implementation makes sense.

    Functionality: commenting, rating, polls.
    The criterion for the transition to the next stage: the ratio of those who supported the plan to the total number of voters is more than 50%.

    Brainstorm

    The author breaks down his idea into components (problems), and the community offers a solution to these problems. Each decision is evaluated on the basis of “like / dislike” and is commented.

    Functionality: publication of problems and solutions to them, assessment, commenting + mind map.
    The criterion for the transition to the next stage: the presence of at least one problem and a solution to it.

    Concept

    At this stage, the author systematizes the data obtained at the previous stages and issues this in the form of a ready-made concept. The concept in this case is a wiki document with specific fields depending on the application. An author of an idea can invite like-minded people to collaborate on a document. After the concept is ready, it is submitted to the community, which evaluates the idea according to different criteria.

    Functionality: creating a wiki document, teamwork on a document, evaluation, commenting, polls.
    Criterion for the transition to the next phase (draft): the ratio of those who supported the concept to the total number of voters was more than 50%.

    General scheme

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    It may seem that this scheme is too complicated (well, certainly not more complicated than this scheme ), it is overloaded and only a handful of techies will be interested in such a service. It all depends on the competent implementation of the plan - you need an ergonomic interface and a competent training system that will help adapt the system to different levels of users.
    If anyone is interested in a more detailed introduction to the system, you can familiarize yourself with the following document in google docs: a brief description of the system (google docs).

    Conclusion


    So, in this article you got acquainted with one of the options for implementing the first phase of the project process - the Idea phase, where, through collective efforts, any idea is brought to the concept level. And as you know, a concept is the core of a future project, therefore it is very important at this phase to make the maximum number of mistakes and find solutions to them, so that in the implementation phase you do not encounter a situation when you need to rethink the whole concept anew. The next article will describe the next phase of the project process - the Project phase, when the concept author creates a model, assembles a team and develops an action strategy.
    So, comment, criticize, propose your solutions, because, in the end, this environment is created for us and you and its effectiveness depend on us.

    Z.Y. In the near future, work will begin on the implementation of the described scheme. But this requires specialists, in particular the UI designer and PHP programmers. Therefore, if you are interested, write to support@projectbook.me

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