How to Plan

What this is

Planning is the step between picking your idea and starting to build.

You brainstorm on your own first — no tools, no AI. Then you use ChatGPT to structure the plan and turn it into a project brief you can save and use.

Why it matters

When you plan before prompting, you stay in control of the build.

AI is a fast executor. Give it a clear plan and it builds what you want. Give it nothing and it builds something generic that you will spend the session trying to fix.

What to do

Step 1 — Brainstorm on paper or notepad

Before opening any tool, write down your idea freely. Use a notepad, phone notes, or paper — whatever is fastest.

Answer these questions in your own words:

What is the website for?
Who will use it?
What pages does it need? (aim for 3 or fewer)
What should each page do or show?
What is the one thing a visitor must be able to do?

Do not worry about being perfect. This is just for you. Write messy if you need to.

Example notes for a cafe website:

- Website for Kopi Kita cafe in Subang
- Customers who want to check the menu before visiting
- Pages: Home, Menu, Contact
- Home: nice photo, short intro, opening hours
- Menu: list of drinks and food with prices
- Contact: address, Waze link, phone number
- Must-do: customer can find the menu easily

Step 2 — Use the planning prompt

Open ChatGPT or Perplexity. Paste this prompt and fill in your details:

I want to build a simple website.

My idea: [describe your idea in 1-2 sentences]

Pages I have in mind:
[list your pages]

What visitors need to do:
[describe the main thing a visitor must be able to do]

Your job:
1. Review my plan and suggest any simplifications for a beginner first project
2. Recommend the best tech stack for this idea (keep it beginner-friendly)
3. Confirm the max 3 features this site needs
4. Suggest the build order

Do not add features I have not mentioned. Keep it simple enough to finish in one session.

Do not paste real client names, private business details, or any confidential information into public AI tools.

Step 3 — Refine with ChatGPT

Read the response. Have a short back-and-forth if needed:

• If ChatGPT suggests cutting something, consider it.
• If ChatGPT adds features you did not ask for, tell it to remove them.
• If the stack recommendation is unfamiliar, ask it to explain in one sentence why it chose that stack.

Keep refining until the plan feels clear and achievable.

Step 4 — Generate the project brief

When the plan is settled, ask ChatGPT to produce the final brief:

Based on our conversation, create a project brief I can save.

Make it feel like a clear mini project brief, not a long business document.

Use this format:

# Project Brief

## Goal
[one clear sentence explaining what the website should help people do]

## Audience
[who the website is for]

## Stack
[tools and why this stack is enough for a beginner]

## Pages
[3 pages or fewer, with one short purpose for each page]

## Features (max 3)
[only the core features needed for this first version]

## Non-goals
[things we are intentionally not building yet]

## Build order
[numbered steps from setup to deploy]

## Success check
[how I will know the first version is good enough]

Keep it short enough for a beginner to read in under 2 minutes.

If the answer feels too long, reply:

Shorten this for a beginner. Keep the same sections, but make each section tighter.

Step 5 — Save the project brief

Copy the output. Create a new file in your project folder called:

project-brief.md

Paste the brief into that file and save it.

This file stays in your project folder. Your AI agent will use it as a reference when you start building.

Common mistakes

• Skipping the notepad step and going straight to ChatGPT — you lose ownership of the idea.
• Letting ChatGPT add features you did not plan — always push back.
• Not saving the brief as a file — the AI agent needs it later.
• Saving the file outside the project folder — keep it next to your code.