Start with the question
The example question is “What around the house needs attention next?”. To answer it you need a last-checked date and a check interval; with those two the tool works out the next due date and sorts by it. Purchase price and serial number don’t help answer it. We’d put those in a document. A field that doesn’t serve the question is a field somebody has to keep filled in, and they won’t.
Decide when to check each item again
Name the interval “Check every (months)” so you can calculate the next check from your first date field. Include interval, days, weeks or months in the name; “Frequency” won’t work. Leave the washing machine’s date blank until you find the manual. You’ll still see it at the bottom marked “find interval”, so you can follow up without inventing a deadline.
| Field type | What the brief adds | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Date + number interval | Next due = date + interval; an overdue view | The tool answers the question without you scanning rows |
| Person | A “mine” filter | Two people can share it without reading each other’s items |
| One of a few options | A rule for which status leaves the main list | Replaced items stop cluttering the view without being deleted |
| Link or file reference | A place to point at the manual or receipt | The evidence stays where it lives; the tool remembers where |
Run it as a spreadsheet first
Run it as a spreadsheet for a month. If finding an item or keeping the dates current becomes the chore, hand the downloaded spec to a person or to your Nym and have the tool built. If the spreadsheet is still fine after a month, keep the spreadsheet.