Another tab changed this workspace. This tab’s edits are held here until you choose.
An app update is ready. Your saved projects will stay here.
Idea to reality.
A free MVP planner. Give your next idea a first version and a real way forward.
Your starting point
On your deviceYou’re tuning a draft. Saving it creates a new project.
Your first release
Example routeA focus timer for study groups
Room to make it real
17–28h planned / 32h work time
Ask someone to show you how they solve this problem today. Write down the last real example.
Small enough
to actually ship.
One input, one useful result, one clear next action.
Keep a complete core flow. Each extra feature takes time from making that flow good.
- Available
- 40h
- Reserve
- −8h
- For planned work
- 32h
The upper estimate fits, with 4h of work time left. Your reserve stays separate.
Change planning assumptions
The learning allowance changes feature work. The reserve holds time outside the plan. Read the method.
Starting estimates cover small web prototypes with existing tools. They are editable assumptions, not delivery quotes.
No features here. Choose All features to see the whole scope.
Add your own feature
Give your actual work a name and an estimate. A custom feature can depend on one of the template’s features. Mark it core if the first release needs it.
Core work stays included. Adding a feature includes its prerequisites; removing a prerequisite also removes features that depend on it.
A route. Not a wish list.
Start with the question. End with a real person using something. The week ranges use the upper estimates and your time after reserve.
0 of 4 milestones completeThe next feature
has to earn its place.
A tidy plan can tell you what fits. Real people tell you whether it matters.
“Tell me about the last time you tried to focus with other people. What did you use, and where did it break down?”
The assumption to test
People have this problem often enough to come back to a small tool.
Your first experiment
Watch three people try the core action using a paper sketch or a simple working page. Ask them to bring a real task, not an imagined one.
Someone completes their own task and asks to use it again. A compliment alone is not that signal.
Small experiments help you learn; these participant counts do not prove market demand. Notes and milestone checks stay out of shared links and images. Your backups and Markdown brief include them.
Take your
next step with you.
Send a route to a collaborator, keep a brief beside your editor, or save a backup you can restore later.
A shared link contains your idea, audience, scope, estimates and decision rule. Anyone with the link can read and edit their own copy. It does not change your project.
A little software.
A lot of possibility.
Use it here, install it as an app, or keep a standalone copy. Your projects belong to you.
The planner works locally in your browser.
Make it your own workspace
- On a desktop
- Open the online app in Chrome or Edge and use Install in the address bar or browser menu. Browser support varies.
- On a phone
- Use your browser’s Install or Add to Home Screen action. On iPhone or iPad, look in the Share menu.
- As a download
- Save the HTML edition and open it in a modern browser. Its code, styles and fonts are inside the file. Import a JSON backup to bring your projects with you.
There is no cloud sync or account. An installed app and another browser may have separate storage. Export a backup before clearing browser data or switching devices.
A good beginning
is a learnable thing.
Practical guides for the decisions a calculator can’t make for you.
How to scope an MVP
One useful flow, a real time budget, and a worked example of what to leave out.
Validate an idea before you build
Ask about real behavior, design a small experiment, and choose a decision rule.
Six projects with a first slice
A useful starting point for a weekend, plus the part to keep for later.
Open the
black box.
The brief assistant matches words and time phrases to this tool’s six starting patterns. It runs on your device, without an AI service. Review the suggestions: your chosen pattern and settings drive every number.
See a worked scope exampleWhat the MVP planner calculates
A minimum viable product is a small complete way to test whether something is useful. The planner treats your available hours as a constraint, and helps you choose the work that belongs inside it.
Weekly hours × weeks − reserve = time for planned work
Each feature has a low and high estimate. The app adds included features, applies a 1.5× learning allowance if selected, and adds 2–3 hours to investigate the problem, 3–4 hours to test, and 1–2 hours to make the first release. Reserve stays outside those tasks.
If the upper total fits, the route has room. If only the low total fits, it is tight. If even the low total is over budget, reduce the slice or extend the window. “Fit my time” removes optional features by priority, together with dependents, until the upper total fits or only core work remains.
What the estimates mean
These are editable starting ranges authored for this tool, for small web prototypes using familiar, existing components. They are not measured delivery benchmarks. Replace them with estimates from your own tasks as soon as you can.
Large amounts of content, custom infrastructure, regulated workflows, app-store review, provider approval, procurement and ongoing operations are outside these ranges. A production release needs the security, accessibility, reliability and support work appropriate to what it does. “Core” means core to this prototype pattern, not universally mandatory.
Why the experiment comes first
The workflow draws on the practice of meeting early users directly, described in Paul Graham’s “Do Things that Don’t Scale”. The templates, effort model and suggested experiments here are original planning aids. A successful interview or tiny test is evidence to examine, not a market forecast.
A few useful answers.
Is this MVP planner free?
Yes. You can plan, save projects in this browser, export files and use the offline edition without an account or a payment. Hosting, software providers and other costs for the project you choose to build are separate.
Can it turn any idea into a business plan?
It is a first-release planner for small web projects and manually delivered services. The brief assistant recognizes a limited set of English keywords and time phrases, then suggests an editable starting pattern. It does not research a market, call an AI service, produce a financial forecast or predict demand. Add custom features and estimates for work the pattern does not cover.
Will my projects be private?
The app saves projects on your device and does not send their contents to a server. A link you choose to share includes its stated project fields. JSON backups and Markdown briefs include your notes and milestone progress. Keep your own backups: clearing browser data can remove local projects.
Does the installed version work offline?
After the online app reports “Ready for offline use,” the planner and these three playbooks are cached for use without a connection. Installation and cache availability depend on the browser. The downloaded HTML edition contains the planner, styles and fonts in one file; links to other pages still need a connection.
What if the smallest version still does not fit?
The app keeps the core flow and tells you that it needs more time. You can extend the window, revise the individual estimates if you have evidence, choose a smaller pattern, or run the interview/sketch experiment before writing software. It never removes necessary work just to show a green result.