Capstone: Original Concept Brief and Test Plan
In the last lesson you used AI as a sparring partner: you asked for critique, counterexamples, and alternative frames, then kept the pen. Now you ship. Your capstone is one original concept, described on one page, plus one small experiment that could prove it wrong. The goal is not to look clever. The goal is to make the concept precise enough that reality gets a vote.
A decision tool, not a pitch deck
Most concept documents try to persuade. This one tries to expose. A brief that names its riskiest assumption tells you what to test next. A pitch that hides assumptions can only be debated.
Your raw material is an observation you actually made, a piece of domain knowledge, or an unusual connection you can trace. Generic ideas such as "an app for productivity" are not ready. Specific moments are.
Example: "On Tuesday, three people in my building's laundry room left clothes in machines past the cycle and taped paper notes to the doors." That observation points to a coordination problem around shared machines, not another reminder app in general.
Note: One page, one concept, one test. If you need a second page, you are probably still deciding what the concept is.
Seven lines that make the concept legible
This is the spec for the page. Write each line in plain language. Keep the whole brief under 400 words.
In this lesson
- Design the smallest test that can say no
- A sixty-minute build order
- Done means someone else could run it
- Pressure-test your own page before anyone else does
- Check yourself on the essentials
About this course
Part of Original Creativity: Generate Ideas Beyond the Obvious — Build a creative process for generating ideas rooted in your observations, experiences, and judgment rather than merely remixing AI suggestions. Finish with an original concept and a practical plan for testing its value.
- Level
- Beginner
- Goal
- Build a project
- Language
- English
- Focus
- Generating diverse ideas before evaluating them Connecting distant concepts through analogy Using constraints to unlock new approaches Separating human-led ideation from AI suggestions Testing and refining original concepts
- Practice
- Capstone project
- Time
- ~5.5h
- Voice
- An experimental design facilitator who encourages playful exploration, challenges obvious answers, and helps learners turn surprising associations into ideas that can be tested in the real world.
- Not covered
- Advanced visual design software, Patent law and intellectual property litigation, Generative model engineering, Professional art and music production techniques
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