Problem, users and plan
🏠The everyday picture
Before a journey, a good traveller decides the destination, who's coming, what they must carry, and which stops matter most. The road can change; the purpose shouldn't.
📘What it really is
-
Choose a real problem you can reach users for: your own business, a family business, a local school or coaching centre, a shop, a society, an NGO. A real problem with real users teaches far more than an invented one.
-
Keep it achievable: one clear core flow done properly beats ten half-built features. You'll build an MVP (Module 97), with a roadmap for the rest.
-
Produce:
- problem statement and users: who has the problem, how they handle it today, why that's painful (from at least three conversations; Module 97);
- requirements: prioritised user stories with acceptance criteria, and measurable non-functional requirements (Module 91);
- MVP scope and success criteria (Module 97);
- roadmap: Now / Next / Later (Module 97);
-
plan: a backlog, Definition of Done, sprint or Kanban plan, and a project risk register (Module 98).
-
Write the "never" list early, as in Module 90: what the system must never do (lose a confirmed order, show one customer's data to another, send messages without consent).
🖱️Try it
Choose your capstone problem and hold at least three user conversations. Write a two-page product brief with the five items above and the "never" list. Ask one of your users to read the problem statement and confirm it describes their situation; adjust it if not.
✅Quick check
Why choose a real problem with real users for the capstone?
Show the answer
Real users reveal real needs and constraints, which teaches far more than an invented case.
Why limit the capstone to an MVP?
Show the answer
A core flow done properly, with quality, security and operations, demonstrates more than many half-built features.