Module 1: Pre-Build Readiness

Before You Open Power Apps

The Four Readiness Checks

Think of these as the minimum viable clarity. Without them, you'll build something, show it to someone, and hear: "Oh, that's not quite what we meant." Or worse: you'll finish and realize no one owns the outcome.

1. Who feels the pain—and how often?

Not "the department." A person or role. Someone who wakes up and deals with this problem regularly.

• [ ] You can name the primary user or role. (E.g., "Accounts payable clerks" or "Sarah in HR.")
• [ ] You know how often they hit this pain. Daily? Weekly? Monthly? Volume matters when you're deciding if automation is worth it.
• [ ] You've talked to at least one of them. (Even a quick call. Don't assume.)

2. What's broken today—in plain language

"Make things easier" isn't enough. You need a problem statement that a non-technical stakeholder could repeat back to you.

• [ ] You've written down what's broken in one paragraph.
• [ ] It's in plain language. No jargon. "Invoice routing takes 3 days because we're emailing PDFs and someone has to manually key them in" beats "We need better process optimization."

3. Someone owns the outcome

A named business owner. Not a committee. Not "the team." One person who is accountable for the KPI and adoption.

• [ ] You have a named owner.
• [ ] That person has agreed they own it. (Don't assume. Ask.)
• [ ] You know what happens if adoption fails—who gets the uncomfortable conversation.

4. What does success look like?

A rough idea. You don't need a full dashboard on day one. You need something measurable.

• [ ] You have a success measure. Cycle time? Error rate? Hours saved? Requests processed?
• [ ] You have a before (or can get it). What's the baseline today?
• [ ] You know what "better" means. (E.g., "Same-day invoice routing" or "90% reduction in data entry errors.")

Why This Matters

These four checks prevent the most common failure mode: building something impressive that nobody owns and nobody uses. They also give you a way to say "not yet" when someone drops a vague request on your desk. "I'd love to help—once we have an owner and a baseline. Can you grab those and we'll pick this up?"

Next Step

Once you've checked all four, move to Module 2: Plan Your Project. That's where you get into the nitty-gritty of mapping the current process and creating a project plan.