Project Brief VERSUS User Stories. Did Someone Say MVP?

Why five pages in Word (even from AI) aren't enough to quote your application?

A client comes with a vision. They have five pages of description in hand, perhaps with some help from ChatGPT, and want to know: "How much will it cost and when will it be done?" At IDEATECH, we'd love to give you an immediate answer, but the reality of software development is unforgiving. What looks like a detailed description is often just a "wish list." Without in-depth analysis, User Stories, and prototypes, quoting such a document is like fortune-telling with a crystal ball.

The Trap Called "Vague Brief" (Even from Artificial Intelligence)

Today's technology allows you to generate a brief using AI in seconds. The problem is that both AI and people often write about what the application should do "when everything works." A professional brief, however, is recognized by the fact that it also addresses situations that aren't immediately visible.

What's usually missing from a typical description:

• Error states and validation: What happens when a user enters the wrong password or the internet drops in the middle of a payment?
• Admin interface: How will users be managed, prices changed, or data exported for accounting?
• Logical dependencies: If a user deletes their account, what happens to their order history?
• Roles and permissions: Does an editor have the same rights as an administrator?

Our Path to Accurate Estimates: User Stories and Prototypes

To quote a project fairly and accurately, we need to transform your thoughts into a language that both developers and designers understand. This phase isn't "wasting time"—it's the most effective way to save money in the future.

1. User Stories

Instead of the sentence "The app will have a chat," we write User Stories that define the role, action, and benefit. Example:

"As a customer, I want to be able to send a message to support so I can resolve a warranty claim issue without calling."

This approach reveals hidden complexities—for example, the need for attachments, response notifications, or conversation history.

2. Wireframes and Prototypes

Until you see the screens sketched out, any idea of complexity is subjective. Wireframes allow us to:

• Verify whether the user journey is logical and fast.
• Discover how the application behaves on mobile vs. desktop.
• Understand the exact number of elements the programmer needs to bring to life with code.

The Magic of MVP: Throwing Out What You Don't Need

The greatest added value of creating a detailed brief? You find out what you don't actually need to build. During a User Stories workshop, we often discover that 30% of the features the client originally wanted are unnecessary for launching the project. We call this approach MVP (Minimum Viable Product)—a product with a minimal but fully functional set of features that solves the user's main problem.

Key Takeaways

• Invest time in the analytical phase: It's cheaper to delete a line in the brief or redraw a prototype than to rewrite thousands of lines of finished code.
• Ask for User Stories: They're the only way to truly understand developers and avoid the phrase "but that's not what I meant."
• Find your MVP: Don't waste your budget on enhancements you don't know customers will appreciate. Launch your product sooner and at lower cost.

At IDEATECH, we don't just help you with code—we help you with the idea itself. We'll help you transform your five-page document into a bulletproof brief that will be the foundation for a successful project.