How JotOpp works

The Ideas board is where every new input lands, whether it came from a customer call, a stakeholder, or the shower. Ideas are post-it cards that move across the board as you learn more about them.

Ideas flow left to right: the inbox at the top, the four-way triage matrix, then In flight and Done. The Graveyard along the bottom keeps a record of what you let go.

Type into the box at the top of the board and press Enter. A few words is enough; you can add detail later. New ideas land in the Inbox.

• Press J from any screen to jump straight to the capture box.
• Pick a colour next to the box to tag ideas as you capture them.
• Click a card to open its details, where you can rename it, add notes (who asked, what problem sits behind it) and change its colour.

Drag each inbox idea into one of four quadrants. The matrix weighs impact (up the side) against your confidence (along the bottom). The axes light up as you drag, to show where you are.

Drop a card on another card to place it at that spot, so each zone stays in the order you want. You can also use Move to in the idea's details instead of dragging.

• In flight: the idea is being worked on now.
• Done: shipped or settled.
• Graveyard: archived for the record. Use it for ideas you have ruled out, so you can show stakeholders what was considered and why.

Made a mistake? Cmd/Ctrl + Z undoes a move, and Cmd/Ctrl + Shift + Z redoes it. Hold Cmd/Ctrl and click to select several cards, or Shift-click for a range in one zone, then press Delete to remove them together.

Any card, in any zone, can be set as a Problem to solve or a Solution. Open the idea and use Shape into an opportunity:

1. 1Under This is a, choose Problem or Solution.
2. 2Choose what it connects to: for a problem, the outcome or larger problem it is holding back; for a solution, what it is solving. Leave it as Not connected yet if you are unsure.
3. 3Press Add to tree. The idea now shows View on tree, and the tree item links back to the idea.

A problem or solution on the tree is what JotOpp calls an opportunity. The idea stays on the board, so you can keep tracking its progress there.

The Tree is a whiteboard that maps how your work connects to the results you care about. Everything reads upwards: solutions fix problems, problems hold back outcomes, and outcomes drive your north star.

• Add items with + Outcome, + Problem and + Solution at the top left. With an item selected, the new one is placed under it.
• Hover just below a card and press + to add a child directly under it.
• Double-click a title to rename it. Click an item to add notes and evidence.
• Items snap into line as you drag them; hold Alt to move freely.
• Copy, paste and undo with Cmd/Ctrl + C, V and Z.

Start with your north star: the single outcome or metric everything else should serve, such as “Weekly active teams”. There is only one, and it sits at the top of the tree.

Then add the Outcome items that drive it, for example activation, retention or expansion. Drivers can break down into smaller drivers, so you can go from a company metric to an outcome a single team owns. Together they form the blue backbone of the tree.

Hang problems and solutions off the backbone with arrows. Draw an arrow by dragging from the top handle of an item to the bottom handle of its parent. Each item has only one parent.

To remap an arrow, click it and drag either end to a new parent; drop it on empty space to remove the link. JotOpp tells you if a connection isn't allowed, for example a problem under a solution.

An initiative is planned work that addresses one or more problems or solutions. One initiative can cover several opportunities, and one opportunity can have several initiatives.

• From the tree: click a problem or solution and add a new initiative, or link an existing one. Linked initiatives hang underneath the card.
• From Priorities: add an initiative, then open it and use Link a problem or solution to search your tree.

Priorities lists every initiative in one ranked order. Drag to re-order; the number badge 1 is its priority, and it appears everywhere the initiative does, including the tree and roadmap.

To compare initiatives, rate impact, confidence and effort in the initiative's details. JotOpp works out an opportunity score as Impact × Confidence / Effort, which helps you decide the order.

The Roadmap plots initiatives against time. It opens on a five-quarter view from the current quarter, with past time shaded.

• Your initiatives are listed on the left in priority order. Press + Add to place one in the selected stream, or drag it onto any stream. The same initiative can appear more than once.
• Drag a bar to move it, and drag its ends to stretch it. Bars snap to a finer grid than the view; hold Alt to place them on any day.
• Switch between Weeks, Months and Quarters. Use Today and the arrows to move through time.
• Streams are swimlanes, for example one per team. Use + Add stream, rename one by editing its name, and drag bars between streams.
• Click a bar to see and edit the initiative's details.

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Your work is saved in this browser, not on our servers. Use Export in the top bar to download everything as a file, for a backup or to move to another device. Import loads a file back in, and replaces what is currently in JotOpp.

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