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concept_forge skill

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/skills/collaboration/concept_forge

This skill helps teams quickly evaluate ideas by scoring impact, delight, and effort to pick a 1-day spike.

npx playbooks add skill nickcrew/claude-cortex --skill concept_forge

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SKILL.md

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---
name: concept-forge
description: Score concepts on impact/delight/effort and pick a 1-day spike.
license: MIT
---

# `/collaboration:concept-forge`

Use after you have a handful of ideas and need to pick what to test first.

## Inputs
- Problem statement
- Scoring axis (impact|delight|effort)
- Constraints to honor

## Steps
1. Capture problem, success signals, constraints.\n2. Generate 4–6 concept cards with Impact (1–5), Delight (1–5), Effort (S/M/L), Risks, 1-day Spike.\n3. Rank by chosen axis (tie-breaker: lowest effort).\n4. Recommend top card + spike and list verification steps.\n5. Seed Tasks or hand off to `/ctx:plan` for execution.

## Output Template
```
### Problem
### Success Signals
### Constraints
### Concept Cards (ranked)
- Concept … (impact, delight, effort, risks, 1-day spike)
### Recommended Spike
### Verification Checklist
```

## Pairings
- Precede with `/collaboration:idea-lab` or `/collaboration:mashup` to generate options.
- Follow with `/collaboration:pre-mortem` to de-risk the chosen concept.

Overview

This skill helps teams turn a set of ideas into prioritized, testable concepts by scoring each on impact, delight, and effort and selecting a 1-day spike to validate the top choice. It is designed for early-stage decision making when you need a fast, objective way to pick what to test first. The output is a ranked set of concept cards plus a recommended spike and verification checklist.

How this skill works

Provide a problem statement, the scoring axis to prioritize (impact, delight, or effort), and any constraints to honor. The skill generates 4–6 concept cards with numeric scores for Impact and Delight, a categorical Effort estimate (S/M/L), risks, and a concrete 1-day spike plan. Concepts are ranked by the chosen axis, using lowest effort as a tie-breaker. The top card includes recommended verification steps and optional task seeding for execution.

When to use it

You have several candidate ideas and must choose one to validate quickly.
Stakeholders need an objective comparison across impact, delight, and effort.
Before committing engineering time — to run a cheap, one-day spike.
When constraints (legal, privacy, budget) must guide concept selection.
As preparation for a structured follow-up like a pre-mortem or execution plan.

Best practices

Start with a clear, concise problem statement and measurable success signals.
Limit concepts to 4–6 well-formed cards to keep trade-offs comparable.
Use consistent scoring scales and a single chosen axis for ranking.
Make 1-day spikes highly specific and scoped to surface a clear decision.
Record risks and constraints explicitly to inform follow-up de-risking.

Example use cases

Product team has 6 feature ideas and needs the best candidate for a rapid prototype.
Designers want to pick which UX pattern to test in usability sessions this week.
Startup founder needs a low-effort experiment to validate core value with customers.
Engineering lead wants to allocate a single-day spike to reduce technical uncertainty before sprint planning.
Innovation lab is deciding which concept to present for investment based on impact potential.

FAQ

How many concepts should I include?

Aim for 4–6 concepts to keep comparisons meaningful while exploring variety.

What does the 1-day spike include?

A focused, time-boxed experiment with a hypothesis, success criteria, steps, and minimal artifacts to validate the key uncertainty.