Thai copy that does not read like a translation
"2 seats left" became "the seats on the left" in Thai. Later came thousands of rows of copy in a Google Sheet. So I built a tool to check the AI.
A client once told us: "We want an app like Shopee, but for fresh produce."
Sounds clear, right? Shopee has a hundred features.
I was leading the loudest group in the room. Client team, an investor, ideas flying everywhere.
Some questions didn't land, so I'd give an example first. Then another one.
My favorite trick: "Okay, let's note that down"
Someone said "We need live video!"
Not for version one. But saying "no" kills the mood.
So I said: "Okay, let's note that down. Now, how should search work?"
The idea goes to the parking lot, nobody loses face, and we're back on track.
Version oneSearchCategoriesCartParking lotLive video
Then we voted
- Every role gets the same few points, whatever their job title
- 2 points go to the idea that helps your own department most
- Top cards become the MVP, the rest go to the backlog
Short time, small budget, so we cut hard.
And live video? It shipped in a later phase. The note wasn't just polite.
What we sent back after the workshop
The workshop is only half of it. The client still needs something to say yes to.
- Requirements. We write down the scope and compare the MVP features against the full app.
- Estimate. We estimate the work for both, so each one gets a price.
- Send the proposal. Scope, MVP vs full app, and the price. The client decides.
- Approved? We start. We break the work into tickets and get going.
- Requirements
- Estimate
- Proposal
- Tickets
Proposal
- MVP
- Full app
From "like Shopee" to one MVP
We walked in with "Shopee, but for fresh produce." We walked out with a short MVP list that every role had voted on.
Three things got us there:
- Note it down, don't shoot it down
- Same votes for every role
- Go see how they really work
If I got to keep working on it
The MVP shipped. Later, we visited the client's workplace. Orders came in on LINE, then went through 4–5 other platforms to ship, every hand-off done by a person.
The workshop never mentioned any of it. The real problem was bigger than the app I'd been designing, and I couldn't see it from the meeting room.
Orders on LINEShip4–5 other platforms
If I got the chance to keep working on this, this is what I'd want to fix: one app, one place for everything.
- The shop confirms an order in the app.
- Confirm prints the price tag and the item list, as the label on the box. All inside one app.
- The phone does the checking: scan to see the stock, scan the prices, check things match.
- All the data stays in one place.
One appConfirmLabelPrice tagStockPriceMatchOne place for data
First time running a workshop?
- Don't panic
- Do your homework: the client, their competitors, what apps like this usually have
- Not sure? Ask your team for help. Nobody minds
Most of facilitating is listening. The answers are in their heads, not mine.