The fix isn't technical. Describe your business the way you'd explain it to a new hire.
Start with the problem, not the screens
"I need a dashboard" is a solution. "On Mondays I spend two hours working out which jobs are behind" is a problem. Start there. Someone good may suggest something better than the thing you pictured.
Tell the story of a real example
Take something that happened last week. A customer called, you took the job, you sent a quote, they changed their mind, you sent another. Walk through it, step by step, with who did what.
You'll catch details you'd never think to put on a list.
Say who uses it
Name each kind of person: you, your office manager, a crew on a phone in the rain, a customer who'll use it once. They need different things, and a phone on a job site isn't a laptop at a desk.
Describe the awkward cases
Briefs often skip this part, and it causes a lot of the trouble later.
- What happens when someone cancels?
- What if two people book the same slot?
- What if a payment fails halfway?
- Who's allowed to change a price after it's been sent?
If you've been in business a while, you already know these answers. They're just so normal you forget to say them.
Say what done looks like
Pick something you could check: "I can see every late job on one page without asking anyone." That gives you both something to check the work against.
Skip what you don't mind about
Colors, tools and how it's built can be someone else's call. Say what matters, and say what can wait. Using a small first version will teach you more than waiting for a big one.
A brief can fit on one page
Here's a made-up one for a small dental office:
- The problem: our front desk spends every morning calling people to confirm appointments, and we still get gaps.
- A real example: on Tuesday a patient called to move a cleaning. We moved it, forgot to fill the old slot, and lost the hour.
- Who uses it: two people at the front desk, on a computer. Patients, once, on a phone.
- Awkward cases: a patient cancels the same morning. Two family members book together. Someone has no cell number.
- What done looks like: every morning I can see who's confirmed, and open slots are offered to the waiting list.
- What can wait: online payments.
Hand a page like that to anyone, an AI tool included, and the questions you get back will be better ones.
