Unleash your creativity: How to make a great yia! entry

We get it - you want to do a great job of your entry! Whether you already have an idea, or you simply don’t know where to start, use this resource to unleash your creativity.

Remember the value of this program is not the winning, but the programme itself. Throughout the programme, you’ll learn leadership skills, communication and more. You’ll be able to take what you learn and apply it to all sorts of creative problems, in your community and eventually when you enter the world of work.

We believe that everyone has the potential to be innovative, and we're here to help you! Let’s start with Design Thinking.

Design Thinking

The creative process that you will use going through the yia! programme is called Design Thinking.

How to develop your idea

On your entry sheet, you’ll need to answer a set of questions. Here’s some guidance.

1. Your big idea - and the problem it solves

Innovators are always looking for solutions to problems. What’s a problem that you wish didn’t exist for people or the environment? Perhaps it’s something you experience when you are doing your favourite hobby, like The Goodbye Fire Extinguisher, a 2022 entry, that recognised that carrying a fire extinguisher during trail biking was dangerous. He so he had the idea of an on-board deluge system.

Or perhaps you wish there were alternatives to plastic packaging, like Hydrink, who innovated a solution to plastic bottles at sports events. Or that there were other solutions to mental health struggles, like Emotional Attendance, which won the People’s Choice Award.

During yia!, you’ll have to clearly define what the problem is, who it helps, and what problem it solves. You’ll also need to understand how big the problem is, who it affects, and why it matters. We’re here to help during the workshop to help!

2. The supporting research

When you are learning more about your problem, how can you find out more? The best way is to conduct primary research in the form of questionnaires and interviews. You can ask questions like; why does this matter to you, what would you do differently, and how would your innovation make their lives better?

What science or technology already exists to help your innovation come to life? For example, a 2023 winner used existing A.I intelligence to help teachers to mark lots of exam papers in record time.

3. Your innovation

By now, your innovative solutions will be taking shape! After the workshop, you should even have a prototype of your idea so that you can visualise how it could look in the real world.

All yia! innovation entries should have a video that explains your idea. Here’s how to create a great video entry. (You can watch the video entries from 2023 on YouTube here.)

Creating a great video entry

This is the fun part! Every innovation entered into yia! needs a video that explains your idea. Videos should always be up to 1 minute in length. This is your chance to really sell your innovation to the judges. Here’s what a good video looks like, from GlowShield, the 2023 yia! Supreme Winners.

Video outline requirements

Your video needs to answer the following three questions:

• 1. What is the idea?

  Describe your idea.

• 2. Why did you come up with your idea?

  Here, talk about how your solution positively affects the world around you.

• 3. How does your idea work?

  Describe how it might look in the real world.

Top tips for your video entry

• Record it on your phone so it's easy to upload

• Hold the phone horizontally

• If you'll be featured in the video, ensure that your whole face is in the picture

• Talk through the steps in your 'big idea' template

• Make your video as creative as you can to make it stand out

• Remember, there’s no rule that says you must appear in the video in-person - just as long as you communicate your idea clearly. If you love animation, flip-chart drawings, play-doh figurines… whatever you do, go hundy!

Good Luck!

So what are the judges looking for? Read our next article on judging criteria here!