Ideas Backlog
Anyone on the team submits an idea through the 5D framework, AI expands it into a full product plan, and admins triage a backlog where every idea arrives pre-thought.
From suggestion to decision
Most idea programs die between the suggestion and the evaluation, because evaluating raw ideas is expensive. Here the expansion work happens automatically, so triage is cheap and nothing rots in the inbox.
The portal form walks the idea through the five Ds, from the problem it solves to the return it could produce.
Claude expands the structured idea into a full product plan: approach, scope, and what it would take to build.
The idea and its plan arrive in the innovation backlog together, ready to be judged.
Admins review ideas with the plan already attached. The decision follows the innovation sprint logic.
The submitter sees where their idea went and why. Ideas that get parked get parked with a reason.
How each step works
The submission form is the 5D framework we use for every AI program: define the problem, name the data, sketch the design, estimate the return, and imagine the deployment. Structure at the front door means quality in the backlog.
The moment an idea is submitted, Claude expands it into a full product plan: the approach, the scope, the risks, and what building it would involve. The thinking that used to make evaluation expensive now costs nothing.
Idea and plan land in the innovation backlog together. Nothing needs to be chased, formatted, or forwarded before it can be judged.
Every idea gets one of three calls, the same ending as our innovation sprints: build it, iterate on it, or park it. A parked idea keeps its plan, so reviving it later starts from a draft instead of from zero.
Outcomes are visible to the person who submitted. People keep contributing ideas when they can see the ideas going somewhere, and stop when they vanish into a suggestion box.
The seven elements
Every workflow we document has the same anatomy: seven elements, each assigned to a human, a machine, or both. This is the Centaur Map from our workflow design method.
A team member has an idea. The system makes sure having one is never the hard part of sharing one.
The 5D form: the problem, the data involved, the shape of the solution, the return, and how it would deploy.
Build, iterate, or park. Admins decide; the AI plan informs the call but never makes it.
Ideas flow to the backlog with their plan attached, and outcomes flow back to the submitter.
A full product plan per idea, generated the moment the idea is submitted.
The innovation backlog page, where every idea and plan is reviewable in one place.
Ideas submitted, triaged, and built, so the pipeline from suggestion to shipped is visible.
The standing rules
- Every idea goes through the 5Ds, no free-form pitches
- Every idea gets a full AI plan before any human evaluates it
- Triage is build, iterate, or park, with a reason attached
- Submitters always see the outcome
Why it works
- Cheap evaluation means no idea waits months for attention
- The 5D form filters vague wishes into real proposals
- Parked ideas keep their plans, so nothing is ever wasted work
- Visible outcomes keep the idea pipeline full