What is a 1-day spike?

A focused, time-bound investigative task intended to validate a concept within one day.

How are ties handled during ranking?

Ties are broken by selecting the concept with the lowest effort; if still tied, use additional criteria or stakeholder input.

Can concept-forge be integrated with other collaboration tools?

Yes. It pairs with flows like /collaboration:idea-lab, /collaboration:mashup, and /collaboration:pre-mortem to generate options and de-risk selections.

concept-forge

Scanned

npx machina-cli add skill NickCrew/claude-cortex/concept_forge --openclaw

Files (1)

SKILL.md

1.0 KB

`/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

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.

Source

git clone https://github.com/NickCrew/claude-cortex/blob/main/skills/collaboration/concept_forge/SKILL.mdView on GitHub

Overview

concept-forge ranks 4–6 concept cards by impact, delight, and effort, then selects a top concept and a 1-day spike to test. It ensures constraints are honored and pairs with execution handoff or planning steps.

How This Skill Works

Start with a problem statement, success signals, and constraints. Generate 4–6 concept cards detailing Impact (1–5), Delight (1–5), and Effort (S/M/L), plus risks and a 1-day spike. Rank the cards by the chosen axis, using the lowest effort as a tie-breaker. Recommend the top card along with its spike and a verification checklist, then seed tasks or hand off to /ctx:plan for execution.

When to Use It

After you have several promising ideas and need to decide what to test first.
When you want a transparent, ranked top concept with an attached one-day spike.
If constraints must be honored while prioritizing experiments.
When you need a concise verification checklist for the selected spike.
Before handing off to execution via /ctx:plan or related collaboration flows.

Quick Start

Step 1: Capture problem, success signals, and constraints.
Step 2: Generate 4–6 concept cards with impact (1–5), delight (1–5), effort (S/M/L), risks, and a 1-day spike.
Step 3: Rank by the chosen axis, break ties by lowest effort, choose the top card + spike, and list verification steps.

Best Practices

Clearly define the scoring axis (impact, delight, or a composite) before scoring.
Capture problem, success signals, and constraints upfront to anchor scores.
Generate 4–6 concept cards with explicit scores and a 1-day spike for each.
Use the axis ranking with the tie-breaker of lowest effort to break ties.
Include a verification checklist and plan for the top concept and spike.

Example Use Cases

Product team ranks onboarding ideas by impact/delight/effort to pick a one-day experiment.
Mobile app tests a new in-app prompt concept and selects a 1-day spike to validate.
Marketing brainstorms several campaign concepts and ranks them for a quick, testable spike.
Operations improves a process by scoring concepts and selecting a 1-day pilot.
Data viz feature ideas are scored; the top concept is paired with a one-day spike for validation.

Frequently Asked Questions

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