Project Outline Template: Copy, Fill In, Turn Into a Board

A project outline is one page that says what you're doing, why, what's out of scope, and what has to happen to finish. Below is a project outline template you can copy into any notes app. After it come short notes on filling in each part, and on moving the task list onto a Kanban board, where the outline stays useful after the first day.

The template's task section is set up so each line becomes one card. You still add the cards yourself, but you don't have to rewrite anything.

Copy the project outline template

Paste this into a doc, a notes app or a plain text file. Replace everything in square brackets. Delete any section that doesn't apply. A short outline you actually read beats a full one you don't.

# Project: [name]

Summary: [What you are doing, for whom, by when, in one sentence]
Owner: [name]
Start: [date]    Target finish: [date]

## Why
- Problem: [What is wrong or missing today]
- Why now: [What happens if this waits three months]

## Goal
- Outcome: [What is true when this is done]
- Done means:
  - [Check you can verify, e.g. "new page live on the site"]
  - [Check you can verify]

## Scope
### In scope
- [Thing you will do]
- [Thing you will do]
### Out of scope
- [Thing someone will ask for that you are not doing]
### Constraints
- Deadline: [date]
- Budget: [amount or "none"]
- Time available: [e.g. 4 hours a week]

## People
- Decides: [name]
- Does the work: [names]
- Needs to be kept informed: [names]

## Deliverables
- [What you hand over at the end]

## Milestones
- [Milestone 1]: [date]
- [Milestone 2]: [date]
- [Launch / handover]: [date]

## Tasks
### Phase 1: [name]
- [ ] [Verb + object] (owner, due date)
- [ ] [Verb + object] (owner, due date)
### Phase 2: [name]
- [ ] [Verb + object] (owner, due date)
### Phase 3: [name]
- [ ] [Verb + object] (owner, due date)

## Risks and open questions
- Risk: [what could go wrong] / Plan: [what you will do if it does]
- Question: [what you don't know yet] / Who answers: [name]

## Decisions
- [date]: [decision], because [reason]

If you type this into Gubb instead of pasting it, the markers turn into formatting as you go: # plus Space at the start of a line makes a heading, - plus Space makes a bullet, and [ ] plus Space makes a checkbox. In Gubb, type [ ] on its own at the start of the line, without the dash in front. For how checkbox syntax works in other apps, see our Markdown checklist syntax guide.

Fill in goals and scope

Most disagreements later in a project trace back to these two sections, so spend the most time here.

Write the goal as an outcome, not an activity. "Work on the pricing page" is an activity. "Visitors can compare all three plans on one page" is an outcome you can check.

"Done means" is a list of checks. You should be able to answer each line with yes or no. If you can't tell whether a line is true, rewrite it until you can.

The out-of-scope list matters as much as the in-scope list. Write down the things people will reasonably ask for that you are not doing this time. When someone asks mid-project, you point at the list instead of reopening the plan.

Constraints decide the plan. A project with 4 hours a week and a fixed date needs a smaller scope than one with a full team. Write the real numbers, even if they're uncomfortable.

Here's a short example for a one-person project:

## Goal
- Outcome: Visitors can compare all three plans on one page
- Done means:
  - New pricing page is live
  - Old pricing links redirect to it
  - FAQ answers the three questions support gets most

## Scope
### In scope
- Page copy, layout, plan comparison table
### Out of scope
- Changing the prices themselves
- New checkout flow
### Constraints
- Deadline: end of the month
- Time available: 6 hours a week

Write tasks that can become cards

The tasks section is where the outline turns into work. Write each line so you can move it onto a board unchanged.

• Start with a verb. "Draft FAQ answers", not "FAQ". When a card starts with a verb, you know what to do as soon as you pick it up.
• One task, one outcome. If a line has "and" in it, it's usually two cards.
• Keep tasks small enough to finish in a sitting or two. Anything bigger becomes a card with a checklist of steps inside it.
• Group by phase, matching your milestones. Then a glance at what's left in each group tells you which milestone is at risk.
• Put the owner and due date in parentheses. On a board, the date becomes the card's due date (and, in a team tool, the owner becomes an assignee).
• Turn open questions into tasks. "Ask Sam whether old URLs need redirects" is a task. A question left in the risks section tends to sit there unanswered.

If you're not sure what the tasks are yet, do a quick brain dump first, then sort the results into phases.

Turn the task list into a board

An outline is good for agreeing on the plan. A board is better for doing the work, because you can see what's waiting, what's in progress and what's finished. If you're new to the format, our guide to what a Kanban board is covers the basics.

Here's how to do it in Gubb, where the outline and the board live as two notes in the same app:

1. Hover over the title bar and click + (Create New Note). Putting the board in its own note leaves your outline untouched.
2. On an empty line, type gubb@board. You can also type gubb@, choose Board from the menu with the arrow keys and press Return or Tab.
3. The line becomes a board with three columns: To Do, In Progress and Done. The note is titled "Kanban Board".
4. For each task in your outline, click Add a card, type the task and press Return.
5. Drag cards to In Progress and Done as you work.
   Click a card to open its details. The rest of your outline's task information goes there:

Gubb's labels are fixed: three priority labels and three type labels (Bug, Feature, Improvement). You can't create your own, so to group cards by phase, either prefix the card titles ("P1: Draft FAQ answers") or add a column per phase.

To find the board later, open Notes History and set the filter to Board. Every board note is titled "Kanban Board". If that title is taken, Gubb adds the time (for example "Kanban Board 14:05"). Because the title never includes your project's name, put the project name in the first card's title if you keep more than one board, so you can tell them apart once you open them.

Limits to know before you rely on a Gubb board

• The trigger must sit alone on its line. If you type gubb@board in the middle of other text, the note can open in an older board view that doesn't work properly. Use a fresh note or an empty line.
• The board doesn't read your outline. It starts with three columns and no cards, so you add the cards by hand. With a short, verb-first task list, that's a few minutes of typing.
• No attachments on cards. Paste links to files into the card description instead.
• It's a personal board. Gubb has no sync, sharing or collaboration, and comments always show "Current User". Notes stay in a local database on your computer. If several people need to move cards, use a shared team board tool and keep this outline as the plan everyone agrees on.
• Deleting a note in Notes History happens without confirmation, and there's no trash. Be careful with the delete button next to your board.

The Kanban section of the help center has more on columns, cards and card details. If you're weighing other apps for this, we compare options in personal Kanban board apps for Mac.

Gubb runs on Mac and Windows and costs $59 one-time from gubb.net as of November 2026. The Mac download has a 7-day free trial.