What should you build first?
A practical way to turn a big idea into a small, useful first release.
Start with one person and one problem
Write down who will use the product and what they struggle to do today. “Help our customers see the status of a request” is a stronger starting point than “build a customer platform.” Talk to the people doing the work before choosing features.
Map the shortest useful journey
List the steps from the moment a user arrives to the moment they get value. For a request portal, that might be signing in, submitting a request, and checking its status. Everything else has to earn its place.
Test the uncertain part first
If you do not know whether people want the idea, test a prototype. If you do not know whether a system can connect to an old tool, test the integration. A small experiment can answer a large question before you commit to the whole build.
Define what success looks like
Choose a measure you can observe: requests completed without a follow-up email, time to finish a task, or users returning to the tool. Record the starting point and review the result after launch.
Leave with a one-page brief
Include the user, the problem, the core journey, the biggest uncertainty, and the measure of success. This is enough to start a useful conversation with a development partner.
Have a workflow or idea in mind?
Let’s find your starting point