Keep a three-day diary of everyday annoyances and pick one to solve

The task is to catch real irritations as they happen, then choose one that is frequent, painful and shared. You are looking for a problem, not a product, so the diary must stay free of solutions until the very end.

• What counts as an annoyance: anything that wastes time, money or patience, however small?
• How will you note entries the moment they happen, so memory does not tidy them up?
• How will you tag each entry for how often it happens and how much it bothers you?
• Which two friends live a similar routine and could tell you honestly whether they share it?

A diary of at least fifteen raw entries with time, place and two simple tags, a grouping into a few themes, and a half-page note that picks one problem, says why it beat the others and who else has it, based on what two friends actually said.

Writing entries as solutions, such as 'need an app for canteen queues'. The moment a fix appears in the diary, you stop noticing the problem itself. Write only what happened and how it felt.

• Phone notes written at the moment of each annoyance, with time and place
• Two tags per entry: how often it happens and how much it bothers you, each on a small scale
• Short notes from two friends on whether they face the same annoyance

AI must not add annoyances, guess how common a problem is, or invent what your friends said. Every entry and every friend's reaction comes from your own notes.

1. 3.1 Set up a quick diary formatCLAUDE CHAT

   Why this tool: A short, fixed format makes it easy to log entries in seconds on your phone.

   Ask for a one-line entry format and tag scale, then save it as a note on your phone and use it for three days.

   Prompt to copy · fill in the [brackets]Copy

   I am keeping a three-day diary of everyday annoyances to find a problem worth solving. My days are mostly spent [where you spend your days, e.g. hostel and college]. Suggest a one-line format I can type in under thirty seconds, plus a simple scale for how often it happens and how much it bothers me. Keep it short.

2. 3.2 Log the raw entries in a sheetGOOGLE SHEETS

   Why this tool: A sheet keeps every entry with its tags and lets you sort by the two scores later.

   At the end of each day, copy your phone notes into rows. Do not edit the wording. Add a column for theme that you leave empty for now.

3. 3.3 Group the entries into themesCLAUDE CHAT

   Why this tool: Claude can suggest a grouping quickly; you decide whether each entry really belongs.

   Paste the entries with their tags. Check every grouping against your own memory and move entries that were put in the wrong theme.

   Prompt to copy · fill in the [brackets]Copy

   Here are my diary entries of everyday annoyances, each with a frequency and a bother score:
   [paste your rows]
   Group them into four to six themes. For each theme, show which entries belong and add up the scores. Where an entry could fit two themes, say so. Do not suggest any solutions or products.

4. 3.4 Test your pick and write the noteCLAUDE CHAT

   Why this tool: Being questioned before you write keeps the note honest about how sure you are.

   Ask your two friends about the top theme first. Then let Claude ask you questions, and write the half-page note in your own words.

• Count the entries: at least fifteen, spread across all three days
• Re-read every theme and confirm each entry in it is about the same kind of problem
• The chosen problem scores high on both frequency and bother, or you explain why not
• The 'who else has it' line quotes what your two friends really said
• Read a sample of raw answers yourself before trusting any grouping
• Say how many people or observations the finding rests on

AI quickly turns a theme into a startup idea and starts describing an app. Keep the note about the problem; a solution written now will narrow what you notice in interviews later.

• Fifteen or more raw entries with time, place and tags
• Entries grouped into themes with totals
• Two friends asked about the top theme
• A half-page note choosing one problem and saying who else has it

A short table of themes with totals at the top, the chosen problem in a box, and the full diary underneath as evidence.

Describe the problem you chose, one entry that convinced you, and what your friends said that changed or confirmed your pick.