Project Blueprint Challenge
Competition year
Active Dates (GMT):
Online Competition
You're going someplace new. Make your own map. You've got a great idea for a software project. But don't start coding yet – first, take the time for a deep dive and build a project blueprint. Who will your users be? What are your top features? And finally, how will you get your project to market and make enough money for you to support it?
All these questions can be answered in your project blueprint. This is a five-to-ten page document where you start your journey into the Software Development Life Cycle. Once you put this together, you'll have a road map for your project that you can share with team members, faculty advisors, and other people who can help you get where you're going.
You can use text, images, flowcharts, diagrams, and whatever else you need to tell your story. Choose one of our three competition categories: Games, Innovation, or World Citizenship. The winning team in each category will receive $3,000 (US). Nine runners-up in each category will receive a certificate of achievement and an exclusive Imagine Cup lapel pin to show the world you're among the best. A total of thirty teams will win!
It's all too easy for a team to jump in and start coding before they're ready. Your project blueprint is how you can get your whole team set up for success. Get started!
How to Get Started
Take a look at our Getting Started guide for step-by-step instructions that will take you through the whole registration process.
Get The Template
Project Blueprint Challenge entries are required to use the Project Blueprint template. Before you get to work on your entry, download the template and read it over!
Submit Your Blueprint
Ready to submit your project to the judges? Click the 'Submissions' link below the competition's name on your Team Page to get started!
Send It Off
Click the 'Select' button to choose your project file from your hard drive. The Project Blueprint Challenge submissions must be in DOC, DOCX or PDF formats and must be no larger than 20MB. If you need to, you can compress your document as a ZIP file before submitting it. And remember: Project Blueprint submissions must be based on the Project Blueprint template.
Once you've selected your project file, click the 'Upload' button to attach your project to your entry.
Now tell us your project's name, and don't forget to specify the category you're submitting it under – Innovation, Games, or World Citizenship – and you're all set! Your project is off to be reviewed by the Imagine Cup judges!
What is a Project Blueprint?
A lot of work and thought goes into a great Imagine Cup project even if you don't include the actual coding. You need to consider your potential users, your concept, core technologies, business models, and much more.
We've created the Project Blueprint Challenge so you can assemble a first draft of all that thinking in one place. By the time you're done with this document, you'll have done the right thinking and research to make your project the best it can be.
We have created a template for your Project Blueprint which you may download and use. (Get it here!) Fill out this template, up to ten pages long, and submit it on our website to enter the contest.
Resources
Take a look at the Project Blueprint template. You may see some concepts you aren't familiar with. No problem! The links below will help you learn what you need to know and do a great job with your team's Project Blueprint.
Concept
- Trendmapping as a tool for identifying future trends and build companies around these
- 6 features you need to manage your ideas
- How to rank your ideas - and ensure you are working on the best ideas that will have the most impact
- Where do ideas come from? How to recognize opportunities?
- Top 30 free Mind-Mapping Tools
Target Audience
Early Feedback
- How to Validate Your Startup Idea
- How to Test Your Startup Idea for $50
- 3 Steps to Validate Your Business Idea for Free . . . Almost
Competition
- A Startup Guide to Competitive Research
- How to Conduct Competitive Research
- How to Gather Competitive Research
Personas
- Why Startups Should Create Customer Personas
- The Importance of Defining Customer Personas
- Complete Guide to Creating a Customer Persona for Your Startup
Top User Stories
- Agile Atlas's User Stories
- The Easy Way to Writing Good User Stories
- Ten Tips for Writing Great User Stories