Choose one job for the first version
The best starting brief describes a person doing a task. A tutor needs to organize lessons. A repair shop needs to collect requests. Build the smallest complete path from their input to a useful result.
- Name the user and task
- Specify the required inputs
- Define a successful result
Specify records, permissions and failure states
For the workshop example, the key records are equipment, members and reservations. Distinguish requested, approved and cancelled reservations. Explain which person can change each state. Start with sample data and one item before adding reminders or payments. These decisions determine whether the workflow works beyond its first screen.
- Member: create and view their own requests
- Staff: approve or reject a request
- Conflict: explain an unavailable time without changing a booking
A workshop reservation app
Create an equipment-request app for a small workshop. Members request an item and time range. Staff approve requests. Prevent overlapping approved reservations. Members can see their own requests; staff can review all requests.
Adapt this brief to your business →Check behavior before expanding features
Ask a member and a staff user to complete their tasks. Test another member’s private record, an unavailable item, an invalid date range and a repeated submission. Confirm that a failed save never looks successful. Use those results to prioritize fixes before inviting more people.
- A member cannot read or modify another member’s record
- The same approved item cannot overlap in time
- Retries create one request with a truthful saved status
Questions worth asking
Choose a narrow workflow with clear users, inputs and a result you can check, such as equipment reservations or a project intake desk. Define permissions and failure states before adding payments, sensitive records or many integrations.
Test an ordinary task, invalid input, an unauthorized record request and an interrupted save. Check that retries do not create duplicate records and that success messages match saved results. Get appropriate technical review for sensitive workflows.
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