Understanding the Problem Statement
The best proposals show deep problem understanding.
What Mentors Want to Hear
"I understand why this matters" >>> "I will do what you ask"
A mentor reading your proposal thinks:
"Can this person solve the right problem?"
"Or will they solve something wrong really well?"
Understanding the problem = 40% of successThe Deep Dive: Real Example
WEAK Understanding:
"The project needs caching. I will add Redis caching."
STRONG Understanding:
"Current system makes 500+ DB queries per page load
(traced via New Relic profiling). 70% are repetitive
user profile queries (same 100 users accessed repeatedly).
Current caching is 5-min TTL, no smart invalidation.
This causes stale data issues in high-frequency scenarios.
I propose Redis with event-based invalidation, which
solves stale data + reduces QPS by 60% based on
similar implementations in [Project X and Y]."
The difference: One shows thinking. One shows understanding.Analysis Process
Read the Official Description
- What does it literally say?
- What's the stated goal?
Read Between the Lines
- Why would they request this?
- What pain point does this solve?
- Who benefits?
Research the Context
- Look at related issues
- Check discussions on this topic
- See what's already been tried
Ask Questions
- Join community channels
- Discuss with mentors
- Don't make assumptions
Questions to Answer in Proposal
- What is the problem?
- Who is affected by it?
- What's the current state?
- Why isn't it fixed yet?
- How will your solution help?
- What's the success criteria?
Read the project idea description 10 times. Then read it again. Understanding matters more than speed.