Lesson 3 · The smallest useful thing: a one-page product idea

Where you are

You have a problem and one real conversation about it. Today you find out what people already use, decide the smallest useful thing you could make, and describe it as one screen. In Lesson 4 you build that screen.

What you will make

A one-page product idea in your notebook or a document, with four parts: the problem, what people use today, your one-line value proposition, and one screen described in words.

For the fictional café: "For volunteer coordinators at small community cafés, who spend Sunday evenings phoning round to fill the rota, Rota Helper is a simple page where volunteers tick the shifts they can do, so empty slots show up at a glance. Unlike a paper sheet on the wall, volunteers can see and fill it from home."

Outcomes

By the end of the tutorial you can:

1. Find what people use today to deal with your problem, including doing nothing.
2. Check a source the AI gives you, and spot one it made up.
3. Write a one-line value proposition.
4. Ask "Who might this leave out?"
5. Describe one screen in plain words, ready to build.

How to use the prompts

• Copy each prompt as written, paste it into your AI assistant and press send.
• Replace anything in [square brackets] with your own words, and delete the brackets.
• Every prompt works in ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini, on a free account.
• After each prompt, read the Check and answer it honestly before moving on.
• Never paste personal information: no names, addresses, phone numbers, health details, money details or anything about the people you help or work with. Remove names from your conversation notes before you paste them.

Tutorial

1 · What do people use today? 9 min

If your assistant has a web search option, switch it on for this prompt.

Here is my problem statement: [your problem statement]. What do people with this problem use today to deal with it? Include apps or websites, paper or spreadsheets, asking other people, and doing nothing. For every app or website, give me a link I can open. If you are not sure something exists, say "not sure" instead of guessing.

Check. Did you get a mix, including "doing nothing" or "paper"? Did you add what your real person from Lesson 2 told you they use? For the café, the paper rota on the wall and a group chat are serious alternatives.

2 · Check two sources yourself 6 min

Open two of the links. Then ask:

I opened [link 1] and [link 2]. Here is what I found: [what you saw]. Which of the other things in your list are you least sure about? Mark anything you described from memory rather than from a source.

Check. Did both links open, and did they say what the AI said? Did you cross out anything that turned out not to exist? If a link was broken or wrong, you have just caught the AI again. Well done.

3 · Write a one-line value proposition 8 min

Help me write a one-line value proposition in this shape: For [who], who [their problem], [product name] is a [simple description] that [the main benefit]. Unlike [what they use today], it [what is better]. Give me three versions, then tell me which is clearest and why.

Check. Did you pick one version and make it your own? Could a friend understand it in one reading? Does it describe something small enough to show on a single screen? If it lists five features, did you cut it down to one?

4 · Who might this leave out? 5 min

Look at my value proposition: [your value proposition]. Who might this leave out or make things harder for? Think about people without smartphones, older people, disabled people, people who speak other languages and people with little time. Give me the two most important ones and one simple change for each.

Check. Did you note at least one group your idea might leave out? Did you decide whether to make a small change now or to remember it for later? For the café, some volunteers may not use smartphones, so the paper rota may need to stay as well.

5 · Describe one screen in words 7 min

Help me describe one screen for my idea: [your value proposition]. The screen should let someone do the single most useful thing, and nothing more. List what is on the screen from top to bottom: the title, the main information shown, and one or two buttons. Use made-up example data with no real names. Keep it to ten lines.

Check. Did you get one screen, not several? Does it show the most useful thing only? Did you check that the example data is made up, with invented first names like "Volunteer A"? Copy the description into your notebook: it is your building plan for Lesson 4.

Facilitator notes

• Web search is not available in every free tier or every country, and options move around. If a learner has no search, let them search the web themselves in another tab and paste in what they find.
• Step 2 is the heart of this tutorial. Make a point of celebrating anyone who finds a broken or made-up link.
• Value propositions often come out too big. Ask "What would someone do with it in the first minute?"
• Step 4 can bring up personal experiences of being left out. Keep the discussion kind and general, and never ask anyone to share their own circumstances.
• If someone's idea needs real people's data to work (for example health records), steer them to use made-up data for the prototype and to get proper advice before going further.

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