Render first, then build
Every new screen starts as a picture, not code. Designers make a mock with real content at phone, tablet and desktop sizes. The owner approves it. Only then does anyone build, and the build matches the mock exactly.
- Why: no build time goes into a look nobody has seen.
- Real content: mocks use real words and numbers, never lorem ipsum.
- Exempt: small bug fixes.
Done means verified
Nothing is done until the live result is checked against the exact words of the ask, item by item. Report it in three columns.
ASKED SHIPPED VERIFIED 1. <their exact words> <what changed> yes / no, how checked 2. ...
Ship a whole drop or nothing. People see a batch of feedback only when every item in it is done. Breakage fixes can ship anytime.
The design gate
Before a build reaches the owner, two UX reviewers and two UI reviewers check it against the rules below. They send fixes back to the builder and sign off. The order is fixed:
Launch comes after step five, never before.
Speed means fewer taps
Judge every screen by how fast someone can decide and move on. Count the taps and seconds for the screen's main job, then cut them.
Just enough
If you see too much, you see nothing. Show subjects, with details on tap.
- No walls of text. If you have to read a paragraph to decide, it isn't done.
- One job per screen. Setups go one step per screen, with a link, a copy button and "Done, next".
- Every number or badge says what it means.
- Anything that looks tappable is tappable and leads somewhere useful.
- An empty state still says something, so nobody thinks data is missing.
- Use the familiar pattern before inventing one. A calendar looks like a calendar.
The look
- Palette: black, white and grays, plus one accent color.
- Symmetry: equal gaps, nothing floating, nothing cut off.
- Alignment: lists and schedules left-aligned; icons, buttons and single hero elements centered.
- Type: big, high-contrast and readable.
- Phone first: check it as an installed phone app (safe areas top and bottom), then desktop.
- Images: only ones that clearly show the point. Bad imagery is worse than none; when in doubt, go type-led or use a clean diagram.
Every build is a project
Five phases, one page each at most. Small fixes skip straight to Execute and get logged.
Write a charter when the work is more than a day, costs anything, is public, or touches legal or money.
PROJECT: <name> OWNER: <one role> GOAL: <one sentence, in the asker's words> SUCCESS: <a number, or a checklist they accept> SCOPE IN: <bullets> SCOPE OUT: <bullets> BUDGET: <one-time $ / monthly $, or 0> DUE: <date> DEPENDS ON: <what must happen first>
Weekly status in six lines
No status meetings. Each project posts this once a week.
STATUS: on track | at risk | blocked MOVED: <milestones done since last week> NEXT: <next milestone and date> CHANGES: <scope, date or budget changes, and who approved> BUDGET: planned $x / actual $y NEEDS: <decisions or tasks only the owner can do>
Any change to scope, due date or budget is logged with who approved it.
Say it once: the ask ledger
Nobody should have to repeat an ask. Every ask goes on one list the moment it is made, including asks passed along by someone else.
TITLE | OWNER | ASKED (date, where) | DUE | STATUS | PROOF LINK
An ask closes only with a proof link. A scheduled check twice a day looks at what's late and chases it with its owner.
Lessons learned
Any miss, any repeat someone had to make, and any failed run gets an entry within a day. Every lesson gets one fix and one owner, and open fixes get reviewed weekly.
ID | DATE | WHAT HAPPENED | IMPACT | ROOT CAUSE | FIX | OWNER | STATUS
A role card for every seat
Each seat, human or AI, gets one short card: its department, who it reports to, its job in one line, and four or five responsibilities. Every piece of work ends with the same brief.
DEPT: <id> STATUS: on-track | at-risk | blocked | not-started
HEADLINE: <12 words max: where things stand>
DONE: up to 3 bullets
NEXT: up to 3 bullets (big moves, not micro tasks)
NEEDS: up to 3 "DECISION: <yes/no question> (<cost>)"
or "TASK: <only-the-owner action> (<cost>)"Example seat: QA tester. Job: nothing reaches a customer broken. Tests main flows at phone width first, reports each bug with steps, expected, actual and a screenshot, and re-tests fixes before sign-off.
Truth only
- No invented numbers, reviews or results. Unknown is written "unknown".
- Numbers cite a source and the date they were checked.
- Anything real-world (an account, a payment, a live site) counts as done only when its owner confirms it. A log entry isn't enough.
- Money, sending, going live, legal and deleting each need the owner's yes on that exact item.
Everybody wins
Every business is built so the customer, the team, the vendor and the company all win fairly. Price so people get more value than they pay for. Promise only what you can deliver every time, then over-deliver. Ask every customer how you actually did, the bad included, and fix the company when an experience misses.
Customers get what they ask for on the first ask. Don't go back and forth to save a little money.