An idea that suddenly came up. A flash of inspiration. Sometimes you come up with an idea thinking that it might sell if you make it into a product.

You get excited talking about the idea among your friends and family, but you forget about it as time goes by and it gets buried in your memory. Therefore, it is recommended to keep a record of the ideas that you come up with, not just by your memory.

However, even if you jot down an idea, it might end up as something you cannot recall when you look at it later. So here are some important points to keep in mind when keeping ideas.

At what moment did the idea come to mind? What triggered the idea? When, where, what kind of situation, in what kind of conversation with who, etc. It is a good idea to keep a record of the situation when the idea came up, along with information about the idea itself.

In fact, the essential function of the content of an idea (the selling point when it becomes a product) is often induced by the trigger of the idea. “Defining the main function of a product” is one of the necessary tasks when developing an idea into a product. In other words, it is the task to properly define the function of the product that you plan to develop. If you make a mistake in this task, you may lose your thoughts on other functionality that is different from the idea of the most important function, and as a result, you may be far from your original idea.

Let’s write down the trigger of the idea in order to make sure your original idea of “what you wish you had” matches the “product you plan to make” afterwards.

When you write down an idea with bullet points or a chart, make sure you leave visually appealing information such illustrations if possible. Photos are fine too. Drawing illustrations casually (not meaning to draw very well) will enhance your sense of space. It is also highly effective to use images when communicating with other companies. It becomes a record that helps you remember better when you look at it later.

When you come up with an idea and have no paper on the spot, you can even spread out a chopstick wrapper and draw on it. You can also draw on a paper hand towel or on the back of a receipt. You might have the opportunity to make use of your ideas. Let’s become “masters of doodling” for that.