A small tool built with AI can start from a known need: organizing documents for a meeting, comparing alternatives or tracking a preparation. Its first goal is to prove that the main function helps someone do that work.

Before asking for screens, describe how it will be used. Who starts? What information do they provide? What do they need to get back? That sequence lets you evaluate the first version without getting lost in a list of possible features.

Pick a problem you can check

Consider a checklist for preparing site visits across a company's locations: the person enters the type of location and the goal of the visit, and the tool organizes documents and questions. Whoever makes the visits can tell whether a document is missing, a question does not fit or the sequence makes sense. That ability to review is part of choosing the project.

If the need requires knowledge that no one available can check, the prototype will need another way to be evaluated. A deliverable that works visually can still apply the wrong rule.

Decide what happens after the test

Test the whole path with a common case and an exception. See what happens when information is missing or when the person goes back to change a choice. Describe problems by the behavior you saw: what was done, what appeared and what should have happened.

Save a working version before expanding the scope. If someone asks for five more features, ask which usage problem each one solves. The test may show that a well-organized list already does the job.

Going from experiment to shared tool requires decisions about maintenance, access, data and support. Leadership can guide that transition without taking on the implementation: ask for evidence of use, decide who looks after it going forward and assess what is still missing.

In AI Thinking by Dani Hayoshi, this is the Rebuild move, done with judgment. See also how to give feedback on an AI-built app and How to use AI at work.

Dani Hayoshi is the author of AI Thinking. Her work connects artificial intelligence, education and entrepreneurship. About Dani.