SECTION 01
Requirements Definition in Solo App Dev Means Deciding What to Cut
When people hear "requirements definition," they often picture thick enterprise documents. Formal specs, review cycles, approval workflows. If you try that as a solo developer, you'll burn out on paperwork before writing a single line of code.
After shipping dozens of products, the biggest lesson is this: completion rate depends not on what you decide to build, but on what you decide to cut. The more features you pile on, the further you get from ever launching.
Many developers jump straight into implementation with a head full of ideas, but thinking without writing things down always leads to scope bloat. "This would be nice to have" and "let me add one more thing" spiral out of control the moment you start coding.
So requirements definition for indie development isn't about growing a feature list. It's about judging how far you can strip down your initial idea. Putting "cutting" at the center of your design process is what changes your completion rate.
Reframe requirements definition not as a heavy process, but as a solo developer's technique for finishing projects by cutting ruthlessly. That mindset shift is the first step toward actually shipping an MVP.
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Only Three Things to Decide Before Building: Your Minimum Requirements Framework
When defining requirements, you only need to articulate three things: "Whose problem," "what problem," and "how will you validate it." Nail these down before touching any code.
Most people start by listing features, but that approach leaves "who benefits and how" dangerously vague. The majority of products that get built but never used trace back to this exact gap.
Here are the questions that serve as filters for minimum requirements:
- "Can this work without requiring login?" — this naturally strips away unnecessary features
- "Does it still function without this feature?" — sorts every feature into keep or cut
- "Is there a reason this would sell?" — whether you can answer this at the requirements stage is a turning point
The "can it work without login?" question is particularly powerful. When frictionless experience is baked into your requirements from the start, your cut decisions gain consistency. Auth flows, admin panels, notification settings — features that depend on login can almost always be dropped from v1.
Whether you've confirmed that "the thing that makes a product sell" is present in your requirements — that's a conviction built over dozens of shipping cycles. Before adding or removing features, check that the fundamental direction is right. That's what requirements definition is actually for.
SECTION 03
Drawing the Line: Which Features Stay in Your MVP
Feature selection starts by asking "does it still work without this?" for every single feature on your list. If the answer is yes, cut it from the MVP. Simple as that, but this alone dramatically shrinks your initial scope.
The trap to watch for is the temptation to include the final vision in v1. "We'll need it eventually" and "it's easier to add now than later" are judgments that almost always lead to failure.
A concrete example from my own experience: with a service called PAPRO, I kept building while the core requirements were misaligned. The direction was off, but I kept implementing. The result was a forced pivot that cost far more than it would have to simply change course before starting.
When you feel the urge to include the "complete" version, run through this checklist:
- Without this feature, can users still experience the core value?
- Is this feature "nice to have" or "can't function without it"?
- Is adding it later really more expensive than adding it now?
Running each feature through these questions cuts your initial scope dramatically. What remains is your actual MVP. Keep the cut features in a list — you can always bring them back once post-launch data confirms they're needed.
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A Lightweight Requirements Template for Solo App Developers
My requirements process starts with quick notes in Google Keep. When an idea pops up, I jot it down immediately. Trying to organize everything in your head guarantees you'll miss things, and trying to think about everything at once means nothing gets decided.
I dump ideas out, line them up, then ask "is this really needed from day one?" for each item. That's what my requirements definition actually looks like in practice. Without externalizing your thoughts, you can't make cutting decisions — your thinking just loops internally.
I don't write design documents. Instead, I fill in just these five items:
- Whose problem: Describe the target user in one sentence
- What it solves: State the problem in one sentence
- How to validate: Decide what metrics or signals to check after launch
- MVP feature list: Minimum features in bullet points
- "Not doing" list: Features intentionally excluded, with reasons
The "not doing" list is especially important. Writing down why you cut something gives you an anchor when you inevitably wonder "should I add it back?" Without documented reasoning, you end up re-debating the same decisions.
Using AI for requirements brainstorming works well, but adopting AI-generated requirements uncritically is dangerous. AI tends to suggest every "nice to have" feature, which expands your scope. Use AI as a sparring partner for questions, but make the final cut decisions yourself.
If you use AI, try "what can I remove from this requirements list?" instead of asking what to add. Using AI in the cutting direction prevents scope inflation.
SECTION 05
Requirements or Tech Stack: Which Comes First?
The principle is requirements first, tech second. Choosing technology before knowing what you're building means your requirements get dragged around by technical constraints. Adding features just because "this framework makes it easy" is a common trap.
That said, in indie development, "the tech you can ship fastest with" is sometimes the right answer. In a team, you'd optimize for the best tool. Solo, development speed is everything. Shipping fast with familiar tech beats an ideal stack that never launches.
Here's how the decision sequence works:
- First, strip requirements to the minimum
- Then pick the tech that lets you implement fastest given those requirements
- If requirements are complex, match the tech accordingly, but at the MVP stage, familiar tools almost always win
Choosing a heavy tech stack for simple requirements is a clear anti-pattern. Conversely, forcing simple tech onto complex requirements also breaks down. The key is matching requirement complexity to technology complexity.
In indie development, not spending too much time on tech selection is itself important. If you're going to spend days comparing frameworks, you'd ship faster just starting with what you know. Make the tech decision quickly, after requirements are locked.
SECTION 06
Ship Then Grow: Updating Requirements After Launch
Requirements aren't something you finalize upfront. They're something you update as you go. That's why initial requirements should be as thin as possible — ship first, learn, then add. This cycle works better than trying to get it right on paper.
MENTA, a mentor-mentee matching service I ran, is a good example. The community feature and freelancer monthly contract feature weren't in the original requirements at all. They emerged from hypotheses that formed while running the service: "if we add this, more people will use it."
When incorporating post-launch feedback into the next requirements cycle, here are the decision criteria:
- Is this request coming from multiple users, or just one voice?
- Does adding this feature strengthen the core value, or is it just a convenience?
- Can it be added within current development capacity without derailing priorities?
Getting pulled by one user's strong request causes your product direction to drift. Wait until multiple voices converge before seriously considering an addition. That level of caution is about right.
If starting with thin requirements feels uncomfortable, remember: there's far more you can only learn by launching than you can figure out at a desk. Trying to perfect requirements on paper before shipping takes longer to reach the right answer than launching minimal and observing real reactions.
SECTION 07
Task Breakdown That Keeps Side Projects Moving
Once requirements are set, the next step is task breakdown. Side-project development assumes short work sessions. When you can't get long uninterrupted blocks, task granularity becomes the bottleneck.
The rule I follow: break tasks down to 30-minute actionable chunks. "Build the login screen" is too big. "Place one email input field" is the right size — small enough that even a 30-minute gap makes real progress.
Here are the principles for task design that prevent confusion during stop-and-start development:
- Task names should tell you exactly what to do at a glance
- Completion criteria should fit in a single sentence
- Granularity should eliminate any time spent remembering where you left off
When tasks are too large, every restart costs you "where was I?" recall time. That recall overhead accumulates and kills motivation. Making tasks smaller reduces this cost to nearly zero.
One more critical skill: knowing when to cut your losses mid-build. Realizing "this is harder than expected" after starting is common. When it happens, don't postpone the decision to pivot or abandon. The criterion is simple: can you see how many more hours it takes to ship? If not, it's time to cut.
SECTION 08
When Scope Creep Happens and How to Prevent It
Even with defined requirements and broken-down tasks, scope creep during implementation is real. While coding, "I could make this a bit better" and "let me sneak in one more feature" are constant temptations.
Scope creep tends to hit at predictable moments:
- When implementation is flowing and you're in the zone writing code
- When you see a great feature in another product and feel inspired
- When you get your first user feedback and get excited
The tricky part is that all of these happen during positive emotional states. "It's a good idea so I should add it" and "I should add it right now" are two completely different judgments. A good idea doesn't automatically mean it belongs in the MVP.
My countermeasure is a simple rule: every feature idea that comes up during implementation goes straight to the "not doing" list. Ideas surfaced while coding get noted but not acted on. Only after launch, when real need is confirmed, do they come back.
"It'll be harder to add later so let's do it now" is almost always a lie. The cost of adding it now and delaying launch is far higher than the cost of adding it post-launch. Scope creep is the MVP's biggest enemy, and building defenses against it at the requirements stage is essential.
SECTION 09
Using AI for Requirements: Practical Tips and Pitfalls
More developers are using AI conversations to generate feature lists and user stories. The psychological barrier to requirements work has definitely dropped, and that's a genuinely positive change. Bouncing ideas off AI organizes thinking faster than solo brainstorming.
However, adopting AI output without critical review is risky. AI generates comprehensive "nice to have" lists, and accepting them wholesale instantly inflates your scope. AI output is the "everything included" state — the real work is cutting from there.
Here's how to use AI effectively in requirements work:
- Give AI your requirements and ask "what can be removed?"
- Have it challenge you with "why can't this feature be cut?"
- Generate user stories, then select only what's truly needed for launch
The key is using AI in the cutting direction, not the adding direction. Asking "what other features do I need?" produces endless additions. Asking "what can I drop from this list?" surfaces unnecessary features you'd miss on your own.
AI is an excellent sparring partner, but final decisions must always be yours. The moment you outsource judgment, you lose control of your product's direction. That's the non-negotiable rule for using AI in indie dev requirements.
SECTION 10
Summary: Requirements Definition for Shipping Minimum Viable Products
Requirements definition for indie development is the art of cutting. Completion rate depends on what you cut, not what you build. Stop thinking in your head and start externalizing ideas so you can question each one.
Here's the framework for minimum requirements, consolidated:
- Articulate only "whose problem, what problem, how to validate"
- Use "can it work without login?" to drop unnecessary features
- Sort every feature with "does it still work without this?"
- Create a "not doing" list to prevent scope creep
You don't need design documents. Just fill in the five-item template: whose problem, what it solves, how to validate, MVP feature list, and the not-doing list. Once those are filled, start building.
Initial requirements should be thin. Ship first, then grow — that's the indie dev approach. The experience of being forced to pivot PAPRO due to misaligned requirements, and the experience of growing MENTA by adding features post-launch, both confirm the same conclusion: you don't need to decide everything upfront.
Spending too much time on requirements is wrong. Skipping requirements entirely is also wrong. Make the minimum necessary decisions in the minimum time. That's what requirements definition looks like when your goal is actually shipping.
