• What are you trying to optimize, and what criteria can you use to determine what is optimal? Is it truly the best possible solution?

How will you evaluate your system and/or study?

- どのようにそのシステムや調査を評価するのか?
    - How will you evaluate your system or survey?
- どのような実験を行うのか?その実験を正当化する理由は何か?
    - What experiments will you conduct? And why are these experiments justified?

What will you need to evaluate your system and/or study?

- システムや調査を評価するためにどんな機材や設備がいるのか?
    - What equipment and facilities will you need to evaluate your system or survey?
- 実験のためにどんなデータを収集する必要があるのか?
    - What data will you need to collect for your experiments?

What are the risks?

- どんなリスクがあるのか?
    - What risks are involved?
- それらのリスクをどうやって軽減するのか?
    - How will you mitigate these risks?

How will you iterate and improve?

- どのように改善を行っていくのか?
    - How will you iterate and improve your system or survey?
  • 以上の質問に全て答えられたら次のReality Checkに移ってください.
    • When you have answered all questions, please move on to Reality Check.

Reality Check

  • 最後に,自分のアイデアや計画が実現可能であるかを確認しましょう.
  • Finally, let’s check if your idea and plan are feasible.

What are the challenges?

- どんな課題があるのか?
    - What challenges do you face?
- それらの課題をどうやって解決するのか?
    - How will you solve these challenges?

What are the limitations?

- どんな制約があるのか?
    - What limitations do you have?
- それらの制約をどうやって克服するのか?
    - How will you overcome these limitations?

What are the unknowns?

- まだわからないことは何か?
    - What are the unknowns?
- それらの未知の要素をどうやって明らかにするのか?
    - How will you uncover these unknowns?

How will you manage your project?

- どのようにプロジェクトを管理するのか?
    - How will you manage your project?
- どのようにタスクを進めるのか?
    - How will you progress with your tasks?
- どのように進捗を追いかけるのか?
    - How will you track your progress?

What is the timeline?

- どのようなスケジュールで進めるのか?
    - What is your schedule?

What resources will you need?

- どんなリソースが必要なのか?
    - What resources will you need?

What are the costs?

- どんなコストがかかるのか?
    - What costs are involved?
  • 以上の質問に全て答えられたら,このアイデアや計画は実現可能であると言えるでしょう.
    • When you have answered all questions, you can say that your idea or plan is feasible.- 単におもちゃのような問題を解決しているだけではないか?
    • Aren’t we solving trivial problems?
  • その問題は実際の現実世界で起こり得るものなのか?
    • Is the problem something that can actually occur in the real world?
  • その問題を解決することで得られる利益はどれくらい大きいのか?
    • How significant are the benefits gained from solving the problem?
  • 他の重要な問題を解決するためにリソースを使うべきではないか?
    • Shouldn’t we allocate resources to solve other important problems instead?- Is the problem you are trying to solve really important? Or are you just creating a problem for the sake of research?
  • If you solve that problem, who would benefit and to what extent?
  • Isn’t your system just a combination of existing technologies?
  • Can your system create more than just the sum of its parts? What is your justification?
  • Is your work just a small improvement over prior work?
  • If you can improve speed or accuracy, how much would it impact users?
  • What convinces people that your work is innovative, not just incremental?
  • Will your system really have a significant impact on society?
  • Is your idea really worth pursuing? Are there other research groups working on similar ideas?
  • What unique advantage do we have that sets us apart from others?
  • Do we have the necessary knowledge to execute this idea? If not, what do we need to learn?
  • Can you list a few names of researchers working on projects related to your idea?
  • Have you checked recent publications at conferences?
  • Have you checked classic publications to see if there are similar ideas?
  • What is the oldest paper related to your idea?
  • Does your system or experiment work only under limited conditions?
  • Can your system be deployed in the real world?
  • Can you justify your system design rationales?
  • How can you justify your interface design?
  • How would you determine parameters for your system and/or experiment? How can your decision convince other researchers?
  • Are you using metrics that are biased in favor of your system in your evaluations?
  • What other possible metrics could be used? Why aren’t you using them?
  • Are you setting conditions and tasks that are biased in favor of your system?
  • What other tasks and conditions could be considered? Why aren’t you using them?
  • Are you selecting participants for user studies who are biased toward your system? Is there any discrepancy between them and your target users?
  • When you have answered all these questions, please move on to the Executive Summary.

  • State Concisely: Executive Summary
  • Finally, let’s explain your idea concisely and precisely.
  • How would you introduce this idea to someone you just met and make it interesting to them?- Consider how you can effectively communicate your research to others and persuade them that your project is exciting.
  • Explain the following five points in 1 or 2 sentences each, and aim for a paragraph of 7-8 sentences.
  • What are you trying to accomplish?
  • What problems will you solve?
  • Why is solving these problems important?
  • What makes your research unique?
  • What benefits does your idea offer?

Explain your research in one sentence.

  • Can you summarize your idea in a single sentence?
  • Does your description include all the important keywords?
  • Make sure you are not exaggerating the actual tasks and results you will achieve.
  • Is your description too vague, making it applicable to other similar research projects?
  • Conversely, is your description too specific, narrowing down the scope of your research project?