Workshop 03
Internal Tool From a Template
Turn a team's messy spreadsheet into a real internal tool in an afternoon.
Overview
What you will build
A working request-and-approval tracker with statuses, filters and an audit trail.
Who it is for
Operators, founders and team leads who are the human glue holding a spreadsheet together.
Before you start
- — A real process you own end to end
- — A sample of the current spreadsheet or form
- — Permission to replace it
What you will walk away with
- Translate an existing process into records, statuses and roles
- Start from a template prompt instead of a blank page
- Ship something a colleague can use without training
Resources
Open these in a second tab before you begin.
Instructions
Work through these in order. Where there is a prompt, copy it and fill in the parts in angle brackets.
- 01
Write the process down as sentences
Before any prompt: who submits, what they submit, who decides, what the possible outcomes are, and what everyone needs to see. Vague processes make vague tools.
- 02
Start from the closest template
Open the Template Library, find the nearest match, and copy the build prompt. Editing a template beats starting from nothing.
- 03
Replace the template's assumptions with yours
Templates guess at fields and statuses. Correct them in one pass so the data model is right before any screens get built.
Adjust the data model to match my real process. Record: <what is being tracked> Fields: <list them, with type and whether required> Statuses: <list them in order> Who can change status: <role> Who can only view: <role> Keep everything else as is and show me the model before rebuilding the screens.
- 04
Add the boring parts that make it trustworthy
An internal tool lives or dies on history and clarity. Ask for timestamps, who changed what, and an obvious empty state.
Add an activity history to each record showing who changed what and when. Add a clear empty state explaining how to create the first record. Do not change the existing fields.
- 05
Watch one colleague use it, silently
Do not explain anything. Note every hesitation. Each hesitation is a label or a layout problem, not a user problem.
Build-along
The same journey as milestones, so you can stop at any point and pick it up later. Do not move on until the checkpoint is true.
Milestone 1 — Process on paper
Fields, statuses and roles written down.
Checkpoint — Someone else could build it from your notes.
Milestone 2 — Template adapted
The data model matches your process exactly.
Checkpoint — No leftover template fields you do not use.
Milestone 3 — Trustworthy
History, timestamps and empty states in place.
Checkpoint — You can answer 'who changed this?' from the UI.
Milestone 4 — Handed over
A colleague completes a real task unaided.
Checkpoint — They finish without asking you a question.
Build Submission
Send a short screen recording of a colleague completing one real task, plus the process notes you started from.
Submissions are sent by message — nothing is stored on this site.
Submit your buildOther workshops