How to Use Step Zero: A Complete Walkthrough

Step Zero takes you from "I have a problem" to "I'm ready to build" in about 15 minutes. Here's exactly how each step works and what to expect.

Overview

There are three steps:

Explore – You have a conversation about your problem. The AI asks questions and builds a Problem Brief.
Research – AI researches the market, competition, and target users based on your brief.
Build – You get three outputs: a Build Plan, a Coding Prompt, and a Design Prompt.

Each step flows into the next automatically. You don't need to know anything about software development to use it.

Step 1: Explore

When you create a new idea, you'll land in a chat interface. The AI will ask you questions about the problem you want to solve.

What it's doing: The conversation has one goal – filling in the five sections of the Problem Brief on the right side of the screen:

Problem Statement – what's broken and why it matters
Target User – who specifically deals with this problem
Current Workarounds – how people cope today
Gap in Existing Solutions – what's missing from current tools
Emotional Drivers – the frustration, anxiety, or wasted time involved

What you should do: Answer the questions honestly and specifically. The more detail you give, the better the research and prompts will be. You'll see the brief filling in on the right as you chat.

When it's done: Once all five sections are filled, the page will show "Problem Brief complete!" and automatically move you to Research after a few seconds. You can also click "Start Research" immediately.

Tips:

You can edit any section of the brief directly by clicking the pencil icon
Don't worry about being perfect – you're describing a problem, not writing a spec

Step 2: Research

Once your brief is complete, Step Zero runs five parallel research queries to validate your idea. You'll see an agent status bar and cards filling in as each query completes.

The five research areas:

Market size and growth trends
Existing solutions and where they fall short
Ideal customer avatar (who exactly needs this)
Competitive landscape
Psychological drivers (what pushes people to act)

The viability signal: After research completes, Step Zero evaluates your idea and gives you one of three signals:

Strong signal – the research supports this idea. Move forward.
Proceed with caution – there are concerns worth understanding, but the idea has potential.
Rethink this one – the research suggests this specific angle is tough, but you'll get pivot suggestions for better angles.

A "rethink" result is not a failure – it means you learned something valuable before spending time building the wrong thing.

Step 3: Build

This is where you get the outputs you need to actually start building. There are three pieces, and the order matters.

The Build Plan (paste this first)

The Build Plan is a plain-language document that explains:

Who you're building for
Why this problem matters
What to build (and what not to build)
What success looks like

This is the most important piece. It gives any AI tool the context it needs to make good decisions. Without it, the AI is guessing about your users and goals.

How to use the Build Plan with Claude Code

Open Claude Code (install it from claude.ai/code if you haven't)
Copy the Build Plan and paste it into Claude Code
Add a note like: "This is the context for what I'm building. Read this first."
Then copy the Coding Prompt and paste it in
Claude Code will start building based on both pieces of context

You're pasting both into the same conversation – the Build Plan gives context, and the Coding Prompt gives specific instructions.

How to use the Build Plan with Figma Make

Go to figma.com/make
Copy the Build Plan and paste it in as your first message
Then copy the Design Prompt and paste it as a follow-up
Figma Make will design an interface informed by who you're building for

Running both in parallel

Here's the efficient approach: start Figma Make first (paste Build Plan + Design Prompt). While Figma is generating the design, switch to Claude Code and paste Build Plan + Coding Prompt. You'll have both a design and working code building simultaneously.

Tips for better results

Be specific in Explore. "I manage a team" is less useful than "I manage a 12-person nursing team across three hospital floors and shift scheduling is a nightmare."
Edit the brief. If the AI extracted something that's not quite right, click the pencil icon and fix it before moving to Research.
Read the research. Don't just skip to Build. The research might reveal competitors you didn't know about or a user need you hadn't considered.
Iterate. Your first idea might not be the one you build. Step Zero is designed to help you explore and refine. Create multiple ideas and compare them.

Step Zero was built for the STC Squared Vibeathon 2026 – to help people who know problems deeply turn that knowledge into buildable software.