Who is it for?

"It's for everyone" sounds generous. In practice it means it's for no one, because every decision becomes a guess. The fix is to pick one person and build the first version for them.

Pick one person

The person can be real (you, a friend) or invented. Give them a name, a situation, and the moment the problem bites.

Card apps usually serve one of three people: a collector, a weekend show seller, or a shop owner. Your choice in step 1 already points at one of them. Now make that person real.

For the example app: "Dre, 29, has about 400 cards in binders and a few boxes. He loves them, but he has no idea what the whole lot is worth, and he keeps buying cards he already owns. He wants to add a card in under a minute and see one number go up."

Now watch how much easier decisions get:

• "Should Binder need an account?" Dre wouldn't bother. No.
• "Should it scan cards with the camera?" Dre can type a set and a number. Later.
• "Should it save the exact printing: set, number, condition?" Yes. That is what makes the value right.

You are allowed to be the person. Many good apps start as "the thing I wanted for myself".

Let Claude interview you

Send the message for the kind of app you picked in step 1. Each one is complete. Change any word you like.

Collection tracker

Seller's app

Shop app

Answer each question in a sentence or two. If you don't know, say "I'm not sure, you pick something reasonable", and correct it if the guess feels wrong.

Write it down

Copy the description into your notes under the heading "Who it's for". Then add one line of your own: "They would never bother with: ...". For Dre: accounts, typing long descriptions, anything that takes more than a minute per card.