How do you know whether a new program idea is worth producing? A boss once asked me if I thought there was a shortage of good program ideas. “Yes,” I replied. “No, he responded — there is a shortage of producible good ideas!” He was right.

I don’t think great ideas are a dime a dozen, but I do think there are many questions you should ask about even the ones you think are great. Thinking about this led me to create a Matrix to help analyze all new program ideas. Such a matrix isn’t perfect because not all creativity and inspiration can be reduced to a mathematical formula. But, a matrix such as this does help you consistently apply the same questions about all program ideas. See what you think. Test some of your own program ideas and see how they fare. Try it in a group setting and see if it helps the group decide which shows rise to the top. And let me know what you think!