Start with a problem, not a prompt
Turn a loose idea into a useful first step the AI can understand.
By the end, you can describe who the app helps, what they are trying to do, and what a useful first version includes.
Step 1: Choose a person and a task
An app idea is a starting point. A bakery app could be a customer menu, staff inventory, or ordering service. Before choosing a template, describe one person, one problem, and one useful result.
Step 2: Fence off the first version
Think of scope as a fence around today’s work. For a book-swap practice prototype, use fictional books and simulate a locally. Do not store real people’s yet. Accounts and private saved requests come later, when we teach ownership. An exclusion is for this version, not a permanent ban.
Step 3: Turn the idea into checks
Ask AI to interview you before building. A user story can say: As a visitor, I want to find a book so I can decide what to borrow. An describes an observable result: the catalog shows fictional books and a clearly labelled practice confirmation.
Step 4: Review guesses before code
Check that the proposed screens serve the task and that excluded features did not reappear. If a missing decision affects real data or access, keep the prototype simulated until that decision is made. Do not accept an invented product rule just because the preview looks complete.
I want a practice book catalog using fictional data. A visitor can choose a book and see a simulated confirmation. Do not add real accounts, payments, chat, or saved personal . Ask what is unclear, then propose one flow and its before editing. Illustrative before / after (behavior, not ready-to-run code): - Build me a book platform + Fictional catalog → choose book → labelled practice confirmation
The later authenticated example is a new learning stage, not a contradiction of this prototype scope.
Sources and further reading
Your AI offers to build a bakery app. You have not said whether it is for customers or staff. Which question should it ask first?
Choose one answer.