Interactive tool
Project Intake One-Pager
Turn a raw ask into a decision-ready one-pager — then commit, shape, pause or decline it on purpose. Fill it in with the requester; if you can't, that's the signal it isn't ready. It's the tool behind the intake process guide.
# Intake one-pager Raw request: — Problem: — Outcome: — Scope — in: — Scope — out: — Owner: — Open Qs: — Decision: Commit Reason: —
Six fields and a decision. Anything more is intake theatre; anything less isn't decision-ready. Nothing you type here leaves your browser.
Worked example
A request that arrived in Slack, shaped with the requester in one sitting. Illustrative values to show the shape of a decision-ready one-pager — not a template answer to copy.
The shaped request
- Raw request"Build us a cash dashboard"
- Problemweekly cash figure disputed
- Outcomeone agreed daily figure
- Scope — ingroup cash, five banks
- Scope — outFX exposure reporting
- Ownerone named treasury lead
- Open Qswhich feed is the source?
What the tool produces
- DecisionShape further
- Reasonsource system undecided
- Revisit line (Pause / Shape further)added
- Revisit date2026-09-15
- Any field left blankrenders as —
- Exportintake-one-pager.md
Read it as: the problem is real and the outcome is clear, but one open question — which feed is the source — is big enough to change the plan, so the honest decision is Shape further with a revisit date, not a soft yes. Only Pause and Shape further add the Revisit line; Commit and Decline don't get one. And if the left column can't be filled in during a short conversation with the requester, that's the signal — not a licence to guess.
How this works
Methodology
It structures a raw request into the fields a decision actually needs — problem, outcome, scope, owner, open questions — then forces one of four honest decisions: commit, shape further, pause, or decline.
Assumptions
- You fill it in with the requester, not about them.
- The problem is stated as what is broken, not the solution someone jumped to.
- One named person is accountable for the outcome.
Limitations
- It is a decision aid, not a prioritization or portfolio tool — it shapes one request at a time.
- It does not estimate effort, cost or ROI; that comes later, once a request is committed.
- It cannot rescue a request nobody can articulate — if you cannot fill it in, that is the signal.
Frequently asked questions
Which fields does the one-pager ask for?
The raw request as it arrived, then the problem it is really solving, the outcome that defines success, what is in and out of scope, who owns the outcome and the open questions — followed by the decision and its reason. Pick Pause or Shape further and a Revisit field appears, because those two decisions are only honest with a date attached. Anything you leave blank prints as a dash rather than disappearing, so the gaps stay visible in the finished document.
What if you can't fill the one-pager in?
That's the signal, not a reason to guess. Shaping is where a vague request either becomes clear or reveals that it isn't ready; if you can't complete the one-pager in a short conversation with the requester, the request isn't ready to commit to. Shaping in isolation — guessing the problem and outcome without the requester — just makes the shaped version as wrong as the original.
How do I get the one-pager out of the page?
Two ways, same content: Copy puts the finished document on your clipboard for a ticket, an email or a wiki page, and Download .md saves it as intake-one-pager.md. It is plain text laid out as a labelled block — raw request, problem, outcome, scope in and out, owner, open questions, decision, reason and, where it applies, the revisit date. If the browser blocks clipboard access, the download still works.
Does anything I type here leave my browser?
No. An intake draft is internal and mostly free text, so the tool deliberately has no share link — there is no URL that could carry it, and nothing is posted to a server. The draft is held in this browser's local storage only. Consent-gated analytics records that the tool was used, copied or exported and which of the four decisions was selected, never the text of the request.
Can I fill it in over more than one sitting?
That's what the saving is for: every field is written to this browser moments after you stop typing and restored on your next visit, because a one-pager is usually shaped with the requester over more than one conversation and a stray navigation used to wipe it. A notice tells you the draft was restored and Start fresh clears it for the next request. Nothing syncs to an account or to another device.
These answers are about the generator. What an intake process is, what it should capture and the four decisions behind it are covered in the intake process guide.