Writing the Build Brief
"Build me a recipe app with AI" produced something impressive for Asha: sign-up, payments, a blog and a chatbot. None of it was Pantry Pal. An AI builder fills every gap in your request with its own guess, and the gaps are exactly where your product goes missing.
The rule
Tell the builder who, what, limits and done — before it writes a line.
A build brief is a short document you give an AI builder at the start, and again at the start of every later session. It has five slots:
- Who and why — the user and the problem, in two sentences.
- The loop — the steps of the core loop, screen by screen.
- Data — what gets stored.
- Limits — the stack, the budget, the rules that must never break, and what is out of scope.
- Done — acceptance checks: concrete tests that decide whether it works.
The Done slot matters most, because it turns "looks finished" into "passes or fails":
Given a pantry of eggs, spinach and bread
When I tap "Suggest dinners"
Then I see three dinner cards within ten seconds,
and no card contains an ingredient from my allergy list.Write at least one check for each step of the loop and one for each rule that must never break. If you cannot write a check for something, you have not yet decided what you want, and the builder certainly cannot decide it for you.
Out-of-scope lines matter too. "No accounts, payments or chat in this version" stops the builder from generously adding them, and you from having to review them.
The shortcut
Fill five slots, then read it as a stranger. Ask: could a contractor who has never met me build the right thing from this page alone? Every place they would have to guess is a place the AI will guess.
Who and why
"People who cook after work waste groceries because they run out of dinner ideas."
A brief is not written once and forgotten. When a test with users changes a rule, the brief changes first, so every later request starts from the current truth.
Drills
Answer fast — trust the rule.
Why did "Build me a recipe app with AI" produce sign-up, payments and a blog?
Which is a good acceptance check?
Why include an out-of-scope list in the brief?
What is the stranger test for a brief?
Remember
- Tell the builder who, what, limits and done, before it writes a line.
- Five slots: who and why, loop, data, limits, done. Then read it as a stranger.
- Trap: vague requests and missing out-of-scope lines let the builder invent your product for you.