Foundations

Trails in This Module

1. Trail 1

   Prototype, MVP, and Production Product

   Learn how prototypes, MVPs, and production products differ in purpose, reliability, testing, operational risk, safeguards, and readiness for real users.

   Open Trail

2. Trail 2

   Start with the User’s Problem

   Could a real customer finish one valuable job with this first version, and what would prove it? Describe the user, situation, present workaround, and consequence before proposing features.

   Open Trail

3. Trail 3

   Find the Core Workflow

   Could a real customer finish one valuable job with this first version, and what would prove it? Choose one primary user and one end-to-end outcome for the first release.

   Open Trail

4. Trail 4

   Features, Requirements, and Assumptions

   Could a real customer finish one valuable job with this first version, and what would prove it? Label each statement correctly so the team knows what to build, what to verify, and what remains uncertain.

   Open Trail

5. Trail 5

   Writing Useful Acceptance Criteria

   Could a real customer finish one valuable job with this first version, and what would prove it? Write criteria around user-visible outcomes, important rules, and failure behaviour rather than implementation steps.

   Open Trail

6. Trail 6

   Reducing Scope Without Removing Value

   Could a real customer finish one valuable job with this first version, and what would prove it? Protect the core workflow and defer breadth, convenience, and edge-case automation in a named later scope.

   Open Trail

7. Trail 7

   Estimating Technical Complexity

   Could a real customer finish one valuable job with this first version, and what would prove it? Estimate risky unknowns separately from visible screen count and test them before committing to a fixed plan.

   Open Trail

8. Trail 8

   When an MVP Is Ready to Launch

   Could a real customer finish one valuable job with this first version, and what would prove it? Set explicit launch gates for workflow completion, data protection, recovery, support, and learning goals.

   Open Trail

9. Trail 9

   When Vibe Coding Is No Longer Enough

   Could a real customer finish one valuable job with this first version, and what would prove it? Introduce engineering review when money, sensitive data, permissions, integrations, or continued service materially matter.

   Open Trail

10. Trail 10

    Preparing an MVP Build Brief

    Could a real customer finish one valuable job with this first version, and what would prove it? Make the brief specific enough for two competent builders to estimate the same product without prescribing every implementation detail.

    Open Trail