Reduce the flow

One input, one action, one result

Write three lines:

• Input: what the person gives the tool. A file, a paste, a URL, three fields.
• Action: the one thing the tool does with it.
• Result: what they leave with. A download, a copy button, a yes or no.

If a line needs “and”, cut until it does not. A tool that converts and also stores and also shares is three tools.

The not-list

Now write everything you are tempted to add, and decide not to build it: accounts, history, settings, dark mode, sharing, an API, a dashboard, an onboarding tour. Each of these is a week, not an hour.

This list is not a backlog. It is a record of decisions, so you stop making them again at hour 30. If real people ask for something on it after launch, it comes back.

Where it runs

Ask one question: can the whole action happen in the browser? Many can: files, text, images, calculations. Then the tool needs no server, keeps people’s data on their device, and costs nothing to run. It is also the easiest thing to explain: “nothing is uploaded”.

Done when

Three lines written, a not-list longer than your feature list, and a decision about browser or server. If the flow still looks like an app, go back to the input and make it smaller.