Write it out

After looking at other tools and thinking about your user, putting what you've learned and what your goals are for your design into writing is important. A short summary will help you:

• cement what you've observed and learned

• remind yourself of the ultimate goal for the tool

• remind PIs, coworkers, etc of the ultimate goal for the tool

• guide development

• help you to define core features and the minimum viable product (MVP)

In addition to writing up a short summary, it can be surprisingly helpful to write up the most plausible actions/stories that someone would take while using your tool. This is called a user story and will help you make sure that you meet the needs of your most common use case.