diff --git a/docs/BROCHURE.md b/docs/BROCHURE.md new file mode 100644 index 00000000..e94eb884 --- /dev/null +++ b/docs/BROCHURE.md @@ -0,0 +1,165 @@ +# Builder + +**Prototype quickly. Build with a clear plan.** + +_For vendors and service providers._ + +![Builder's start screen: the question "What do you want to build today?" above a box where the idea is typed or dictated](images/builder.png) + +_It starts with a sentence. Type the client's need, or say it out loud, and +Builder takes it from there._ + +--- + +## What is Builder? + +Builder is a tool that takes an idea you describe in your own words and turns +it into a real, working web application. + +Move from a client brief to a working prototype, with the requirements, the +design decisions and the build plan written down along the way. No coding +required. + +--- + +## Who it is for + +Vendors and service providers who turn client needs into prototypes: for +proposals, for project scoping, and for delivery planning. + +- **Agencies and consultancies** that need to show a client something they can + click before anyone writes a line of code. +- **Solution providers** scoping a custom application, who want the + requirements and the plan agreed before the build starts. +- **Delivery teams** that would rather hand engineering a working first + version and five approved documents than a slide deck. + +If you can describe the client's workflow to a colleague, you can use Builder. + +### A client project to prototype + +Prototype a client-service application where teams assign requests, track +deadlines and review AI-drafted replies. In an afternoon, Builder produces the +brief, two or three ways to build it, a clickable design for each, and a +running app the client can try. + +--- + +## How it works + +**1. Describe it.** +Describe the client's workflow, its users and its requirements. Attach notes, a +sketch or a spreadsheet; Builder reads up to 20 files per message, 10 MB each. +Builder asks the follow-up questions a product person would ask, one at a time. + +**2. Shape it.** +Builder writes a short, readable brief: who the app is for, what it must do and +what "done" looks like. It writes the constraints, then lays out two or three +approaches with the pros, cons and risks of each, and recommends one. You +compare and choose. + +![Two ways to build a field service dispatch board, side by side: a recommended queue-and-capacity split view and a drag-and-drop Gantt timeline, each with pros, cons and risks and a "Choose this one" button](images/brochure-approaches.png) + +_Builder lays out the options side by side, in plain language, with one +recommended. You read, compare and choose._ + +**3. Choose a look.** +Tell Builder the style you have in mind, or let it show you several design +concepts side by side. Each concept is a clickable and editable mockup of every +screen, shown on desktop and phone, in light and dark modes. Adjust the colors, +fonts and corners until it feels right, then pick one. + +![A clickable mockup of the dispatch queue on a desktop: the client's name in the top bar, a warning that two emergency work orders will breach their service level within 22 minutes, and the two work orders listed with their remaining time](images/brochure-design.png) + +_Every design is a working mockup you can click through. This one is the +dispatch queue of a field service board._ + +![The same dispatch queue mockup at phone width, with the navigation, warning and work orders laid out for a narrow screen](images/brochure-design-phone.png) + +_The same screen at phone width. Builder checks every page at 1280 px and +390 px before a design is filed._ + +![A second design concept for a different project, a daily habit tracker, in a warm serif style with a summary card and a list of streaks](images/brochure-concept-habits.png) + +_Concepts differ in more than color. Builder can start three at once so the +client sees genuinely different directions._ + +**4. Watch it get built.** +Builder writes a build plan and then builds the app in front of you. A live +preview runs in your browser from the first change. A checklist ticks off each +acceptance item as it is met, and the activity line says what the builder is +doing right now. Try the app as it takes shape and ask for changes along the +way. + +**5. Take it with you.** +Download the source code, the design and the planning documents for client +review and the next stage of delivery. A whole project exports as one zip, with +the planning documents, the design files and the app's source in their own +folders, and imports again later. + +--- + +## Why teams choose Builder + +**Clarify the work before building.** +Define who the application serves, what it needs to do and what the prototype +should demonstrate. Review the approaches and the editable designs before +committing to the build. Nothing moves to the next step until you approve it, +and a changed document needs approval again. + +**Give clients something they can try.** +Use a working prototype to gather feedback, test the proposed workflow and +refine the requirements. Make the next conversation about an application the +client can see and use, not a document they have to imagine. + +**Carry the work into delivery.** +Keep the source code, the designs and the planning documents for the next +stage. Every finished app ships with a README for engineers and a user manual +for the people who will use it, with pictures of the app as built, kept current +as the app changes. Corbits audit and governance capabilities are built into +the applications, supporting enterprise requirements from the start. + +**Present it to the right audience.** +Ask Builder to present the project for a CEO, a CTO, an investor, a client or +an end user, and it builds a tailored 16:9 slide deck as PowerPoint and PDF +from the approved documents, in the project's own colors and type. Share it +with reviewers, record their decisions, and pull their feedback straight into +the next revision. + +**Your choice of AI.** +Builder works with the AI service you already pay for: a ChatGPT or xAI +subscription, a key from Anthropic, OpenAI, Google or xAI, or a provider of +your own. Each project runs on the model profile you pick for it. + +--- + +## What you end up with + +| Deliverable | What it is | +| -------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | +| Five planning documents | Brief, constraints, approaches, requirements and build plan, each approved by you at a known version | +| A design | Every screen as a clickable mockup, with the colors, fonts and corners you chose | +| A working web app | Running in the live preview and downloadable as source, with a README and a user manual | +| A slide deck, when you ask | PowerPoint and PDF for the audience you name | +| One project file | The whole project as a zip you can archive, hand over or import again | + +--- + +## Where it runs + +Builder runs on your own computer or your own server, so your clients' ideas +and data stay with you. Several people can sign in and work together in shared +workspaces, and each person connects the model provider of their choice. + +Setup takes a few minutes with Docker, or you can ask your coding assistant to +install it for you. + +--- + +## Get started + +- **Project home:** github.com/corbitsdev/corbits-builder +- **User manual:** github.com/corbitsdev/corbits-builder/blob/main/docs/USER_MANUAL.md +- **Install guide:** github.com/corbitsdev/corbits-builder/blob/main/docs/SELF_HOST.md + +Builder is open source, released under the GPLv2 with the AI Exception. diff --git a/docs/images/brochure-approaches.png b/docs/images/brochure-approaches.png new file mode 100644 index 00000000..e096411e Binary files /dev/null and b/docs/images/brochure-approaches.png differ diff --git a/docs/images/brochure-concept-habits.png b/docs/images/brochure-concept-habits.png new file mode 100644 index 00000000..4c101f24 Binary files /dev/null and b/docs/images/brochure-concept-habits.png differ diff --git a/docs/images/brochure-design-phone.png b/docs/images/brochure-design-phone.png new file mode 100644 index 00000000..8c5f850e Binary files /dev/null and b/docs/images/brochure-design-phone.png differ diff --git a/docs/images/brochure-design.png b/docs/images/brochure-design.png new file mode 100644 index 00000000..728ebf11 Binary files /dev/null and b/docs/images/brochure-design.png differ