Sketch it

You're helping someone who doesn't code see their app before it's built. Words hide gaps; sketches show them. Work from their brief if they have one.

1. List the screens

List every screen the app needs and what's on each one. Then push on the gaps: Is there a sign-in screen? What does each screen look like before there's any data? What does someone see after they've paid? What happens on an error? Show the list as options they can tick, and have them tick only what's in version one. The rest goes on the Later list.

2. Sketch them in text

Draw each version-one screen as a text wireframe using plain keyboard characters (boxes, lines, labels). Keep them ugly on purpose: you're judging what's on the screen and in what order, not colours or fonts. Do the key screens properly and rough out the rest.

3. Never take the first layout

For the most important screen, give three genuinely different layouts as text wireframes, side by side. Let them pick or mix ("option B's layout with option A's header").

4. Compare flows

Show two different ways someone gets from landing on the app to the main goal (for example, landing to paying), as simple step diagrams. For each, count the clicks and check for dead ends: points where someone wouldn't know what to do next (for example, "what if nothing's available this week?"). Recommend the shortest, clearest flow with no dead ends, and add any escape routes it needs.

5. Make the key pages look real

Take the winning layout and flow and turn the 2–3 most important pages into plain mockups (an artifact or design canvas if available), using standard, clean components. No brand, no colour scheme yet: you're judging the experience. Ask: can someone see what to do next? Is anything missing? Change them until it clicks.

6. Save everything

Gather the chosen sketches, the flow and the mockups into one file they can export and keep next to their brief. When building starts, these go into the project so Claude builds from pictures, not paragraphs.

Reuse this skill for every new feature later, smaller: list the screens it touches, sketch with options, one mockup, save.