Maestro: First Principals - Human Baseline

What is it?

The idea of first principals is a powerful problem-solving approach that involves breaking down complex issues into its most basic and fundamental parts.

I’ll use this thought exercise as a first step to challenge assumptions and to unlock a creative solution to our problem. This experiment should demonstrate how capable current LLM is at human style reasoning and problem solving.

How it works

1. Starting Point:
   • Instead of accepting existing assumptions or conventional wisdom, first principles thinking begins with a blank slate.
   • It encourages us to question everything we think we know about a given problem.
2. Deconstructing the Problem:
   • We break down the problem into its essential elements, separating facts from assumptions.
   • By doing so, we get to the fundamental truth underlying the issue.
3. Asking Powerful Questions:
   • We ask why repeatedly to get to the root cause.
   • For example, if the problem is related to energy efficiency, we might ask:
     • Why do we use certain materials in construction?
     • Why do we follow specific design standards?
     • Why do we rely on existing technologies?
4. Creating New Solutions from Scratch:
   • Armed with the fundamental truth, we construct new solutions.
   • We look beyond existing solutions and explore novel approaches.
5. Unlocking Creativity and Innovation:
   • First principles thinking encourages us to think like scientists and inventors.
   • It allows us to combine ideas from unrelated fields and create innovative solutions. 

Human Reasoning

The Problem

I do not know what cleaning products I have and where they are located.

Truths

When I deconstruct the problem to the fundamental truth I discover that the purpose (or category) of the product is more important than the location. Cleaning products are used in support for a cleaning activity which impacts both the type of cleaner used and the most convenient storage location.

An Example

• Heavy degreasers, glosses & polishes and glass & rubber cleaner in the garage
• Mild degreasers, dish soaps, countertop cleaner, disinfectant wipes in the kitchen
• Toilet and grout cleaner, tile mopping solution in the bathroom

It doesn’t make a lot of sense to store bathroom supplies in the garage, and I typically don’t want to search in the house for a heavy cleaner I’m using outside.

The other truth is that I sometimes need a specific cleaner for a specific job, but I’m not sure if I have the right product for the job. Keeping an accurate and up to date list is equally as important as knowing where the product is stored.

Manual data entry is inconvenient and cumbersome to maintain, so products that are added or removed need to be updated seamlessly.

Solution

The novel solution that I arrived at was to construct a system that encourages users to track cleaning products as they use them. Focus on the workflow for initially adding the item and use the location tracking as a tag or metadata that provides basic search capability.

Assumptions

The first assumption that must be validated through user testing is that users behavior tends to use similar categories of products during a single cleaning session. For example, cleaning a bathroom I will use those cleaning supplies and only those supplies. Thus, my cleaning session involves only those items.

A second assumption is that a user would mark an item as empty if the cleaning product were completely used up, or if the quantity was too low. Both of assumptions can be proven or disproven through end user testing and would validate the app’s workflow.

Next