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Tutorial 06 - Build Your Minimum Working Product
Phase 5 - Make Applications Real
Final Phase 5 Project
The big idea
This is the point where the separate technical pieces become one product.
You started with an idea.
You built an early application.
You learned databases.
You learned SQL.
You added users where appropriate.
You prepared the application for production.
You deployed it.
Now you need to answer:
Can another person actually experience the core value of this idea?
The official Phase 5 project defines a Minimum Working Product as the simplest working version of an idea that allows another person to experience its core value. It explicitly says that it is not a perfect startup, complete product, production-scale system, or finished business. fileciteturn14file0L9-L35
1. Do not start from scratch
Return to your Phase 4 application.
The intended progression is:
text
Phase 4 application
↓
Database
↓
Users, if needed
↓
Persistent data
↓
Production configuration
↓
Deployment
↓
Real user
The Phase 5 project explicitly asks you to take the small application from Phase 4 and move it toward something another person can actually try. fileciteturn14file0L37-L65
2. What is an MWP?
MWP means:
Minimum Working Product
Break the phrase apart.
Minimum
Only the smallest necessary scope.
Working
The core experience actually functions.
Product
Another person can use it to experience some meaningful value.
3. What an MWP is not
It is not:
text
Perfect UI
Complete startup
Huge feature set
Enterprise architecture
Mobile app
AI everywhere
Payment integration
Advanced analytics
You can build those later.
The first goal is to test whether the core idea works.
Payments
Coupons
Calendar synchronization
SMS
Email automation
AI assistant
Analytics
Reviews
Referral system
Mobile app
Those may eventually be valuable.
But they are not necessarily required to test the core idea.
5. Define the core user journey
Write this:
text
User
↓
Action
↓
Application
↓
Result
For example:
text
Customer
↓
Books a consultation
↓
Application stores booking
↓
Customer sees confirmation
The official Phase 5 project treats this core journey as the center of the MWP and says everything outside it is secondary. fileciteturn14file0L67-L93
6. Your one-sentence product test
Complete:
A ____ can use my application to and receive ____.
Examples:
A customer can use my application to book a consultation and receive a confirmation.
A small business owner can upload an invoice and receive extracted text.
A student can enter an assignment and receive a structured study plan.
A local buyer can browse available products and submit an inquiry.
If you cannot write this sentence clearly, the product scope is probably still unclear.
7. Must Have vs Later
Create two lists.
Must Have
Features required for the core value.
Later
Features that would improve the product but are not necessary for the first real test.
For example:
text
MUST HAVE
□ Landing page
□ Service list
□ Booking form
□ Save booking
□ Confirmation
□ Public URL
The official project uses this exact Must Have/Later distinction as a scope-control exercise. fileciteturn14file0L95-L124
8. Build the smallest complete flow
An MWP should be complete around its core action.
A bad MVP can contain:
text
Beautiful homepage
+
half-finished form
+
unfinished database
A better MWP might be visually simple but complete:
text
User arrives
↓
Understands purpose
↓
Performs core action
↓
Application processes it
↓
Data is stored if needed
↓
User gets useful result
Completion is more important than feature count.
9. Use the Phase 5 pieces selectively
You do not have to use every Phase 5 feature in every product.
Database
Use it if the application needs persistent information.
Users
Use them if the application needs accounts, private data, or user-specific workflows.
SQL
Use it for understanding and inspecting your data.
Production configuration
Use it before public deployment.
Deployment
Use it if another person needs to test the product.
This is why the project says to use previous Phase 5 projects to add the pieces your product actually needs. fileciteturn14file0L44-L65
10. Does your MWP need AI?
Ask:
Does AI create meaningful value in my product?
If yes, use it.
If no, do not force it.
This is explicitly part of the Phase 5 final project. fileciteturn14file0L126-L148
Examples where AI might create meaningful value:
text
User feedback
↓
Sentiment analysis
text
Long text
↓
AI summary
text
Description
↓
Suggested category
But a normal booking form does not become better merely because an AI chatbot is placed beside it.
11. Product before technology
Ask:
text
What problem?
Who has it?
What action do they need?
What result matters?
Only then ask:
text
What technology should I use?
Avoid:
I learned feature X, so I need to put feature X into my product.
Instead:
My user needs Y. Does feature X help achieve Y?
12. User testing
Find at least one person who did not build the application.
Give them the public URL.
Do not immediately explain the interface.
Observe.
Ask:
What do you think this application does?
What would you expect to happen next?
What was confusing?
Did you complete the main task?
What would you change?
These questions are directly aligned with the final project's user-testing exercise. fileciteturn14file0L150-L167
13. Watch instead of explaining
Suppose the user asks:
Where do I click?
Your instinct may be to tell them.
Instead, record:
text
User could not find the action.
That is product feedback.
You want to discover:
text
What users naturally understand
not:
text
What users understand after the founder explains it.
14. Prioritize feedback
Do not treat every comment equally.
Classify feedback.
Critical
The user cannot complete the core task.
Important
The user can complete it but becomes confused.
Nice to have
The user suggests an enhancement.
Example:
text
"I couldn't submit the form."
→ Critical
"I wasn't sure what this field meant."
→ Important
"Could you add dark mode?"
→ Nice to have
Fix the core problems first.
15. The MWP build loop
Use this cycle:
text
Define core journey
↓
Build smallest version
↓
Test yourself
↓
Deploy
↓
Give to real user
↓
Observe
↓
Fix biggest problem
↓
Test again
This is product development.
16. Do not endlessly polish
A common trap:
text
Build
↓
Polish
↓
Polish
↓
Polish
↓
Never show anyone
A better loop:
text
Build enough
↓
Show someone
↓
Learn
↓
Improve
Real user behavior is more informative than your imagination.
17. Technical completion checklist
Your MWP should be checked from multiple layers.
Product
text
□ Clear purpose
□ Defined user
□ Core journey written
Application
text
□ Main page works
□ Core action works
□ Result is useful
□ Errors are handled reasonably
Data
text
□ Required data is stored
□ Data can be retrieved
□ User ownership works if required
Authentication
text
□ Login works if needed
□ Logout works if needed
□ Private data is protected if needed
Production
text
□ Secrets are protected
□ Production configuration is set
□ Dependencies are listed
Deployment
text
□ Public URL works
□ Another person can access it
□ Core flow works remotely
18. The final demonstration
Prepare a short demonstration.
The official project suggests covering:
The Problem
What problem are you solving?
The User
Who is it for?
The Product
What does the application do?
The Core Flow
What can the user actually do?
The Technology
What did you use?
AI Decision
Did you use AI?
If yes:
Why?
If no:
Why not?
What You Learned
What could you build next?
These are the final project's demonstration categories. fileciteturn14file0L169-L201
19. Five-minute demonstration structure
Use:
text
0:00–0:45
Problem + user
0:45–1:15
What the product does
1:15–3:30
Live core user journey
3:30–4:15
Technology + architecture
4:15–4:45
AI decision
4:45–5:00
What comes next
Do not spend the entire demonstration talking about code.
Show the product.
20. Architecture explanation
Be able to draw your system:
text
User
↓
Browser
↓
Django
↓
Authentication
↓
Business logic
↓
Database
↓
Response
If AI is involved:
text
User
↓
Django
↓
AI service
↓
Structured result
↓
Database
↓
User
You do not need to explain every implementation detail.
Explain the role of each component.
21. AI-assisted building workflow
Use ChatGPT strategically.
Step 1 - Explain the goal
I am building an MWP for [user] who needs to [problem]. The core flow is [flow].
Step 2 - Ask for architecture
Identify the minimum files/components required.
Step 3 - Implement one feature
Add the smallest implementation for [feature].
Step 4 - Test
Here is what happened.
Step 5 - Debug
Explain the root cause before proposing the fix.
Step 6 - Review
Check whether this change introduces security, data ownership, or deployment issues.
If your Must Have list contains 20 items, reduce it.
Ask:
What is the smallest version that still demonstrates the idea?
24. Final success criteria
The official Phase 5 project expects the MWP to have:
text
□ Clear purpose
□ Defined user
□ Working core flow
□ Required information stored
□ User handling if accounts are required
□ Public URL
□ Another person able to try it
It does not need to be perfect. fileciteturn14file0L203-L215
25. Final reflection
Answer these questions honestly:
Product
What problem did I attempt to solve?
User
Who is the product for?
Technical
What did I build?
Data
What does the application remember?
Security
What should users be allowed to access?
Deployment
Can another person use it?
AI
Did AI create meaningful value?
Learning
What part was hardest?
Next step
What would I build next if I had another week?
26. The deeper outcome
The final goal of the program is not mastery of Django.
It is not mastery of SQL.
It is not mastery of deployment.
It is not mastery of AI.
The deeper outcome is builder confidence.
The official curriculum expresses this as the ability to look at an idea and think:
"I may not know how to build everything yet, but I know enough to start." fileciteturn14file0L217-L229
That is exactly what Phase 5 should produce.
Remember
The MWP is:
text
Idea
↓
User
↓
Core problem
↓
Smallest useful flow
↓
Working application
↓
Persistent data
↓
Production configuration
↓
Public URL
↓
Real person
↓
Feedback
The objective is not to prove that you can build everything.
The objective is to prove that you can build enough to learn from reality.
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