Hey everyone,
Lately, I’ve been exploring how to organize my projects better and realized that when I start building a software application , I often dive straight into coding without much planning. This usually leads to missing features, messy structure, and extra rework later.
For those of you who’ve built projects before, what steps do you follow to plan things properly before writing any code?
Some questions I’m curious about:
• How do you figure out the main purpose and scope of the project?
• Do you sketch wireframes, flowcharts, or user stories first?
• How detailed should the feature list or roadmap be for a small project?
• At what point do you decide on the tools or tech stack to use?
• How do you keep things simple so you don’t get overwhelmed?
I’d love to hear about your planning process, tips, or examples — especially if it helped you avoid problems later on.
Thanks in advance for sharing your thoughts! 🙌
Top comments (1)
While I was working at a UI/UX design agency in Mississauga, I noticed that the projects that went most smoothly were always the ones with a clear plan before any code was written. The best approach we found was to start by defining the core purpose of the app in one or two sentences so every feature could be judged against that goal. From there, mapping a quick user flow or wireframe helped spot gaps early. Keeping a short prioritized feature list (no more than 3–5 essentials at first) prevented scope creep. Only after the scope was defined did we choose the tech stack, always going with the simplest tools that matched the needs. Finally, using a lightweight system like Trello or Notion to track revisions and deadlines kept things simple without overwhelming the team. Even for small apps, this kind of upfront structure saves a lot of rework later.