1. Frame the change: Before doing any work, look at real examples and write a simple statement of the core problem and what “better” will look like for real people.
2. Dump and cluster the work: List every relevant task, constraint, and idea, then group items that obviously must change together and give each group a clear, plain-language name.
3. Choose scope and constraints: For this project, decide which parts you are allowed to change, which parts must stay as they are, and where you’ll use standard patterns versus special custom solutions.
4. Map structure and uncertainty: Draw how these groups depend on one another and mark the ones where you know the least, so you can see both the structure of the work and the riskiest spots.
5. Sequence by leverage and unknowns: Start with a group of work that many others depend on and that has big open questions, so early steps give you maximum learning and flexibility.
6. Anchor hard-to-undo decisions early: Make the few big, hard-to-reverse choices about flow, layout, or structure before spending time on details that are easy to tweak.
7. Time decisions by reversibility and options: Make decisions as late as you can without losing good options—wait on choices that are easy to change and benefit from fresh information, and decide early on things that are hard to unwind or have long lead times.
8. Slice into tiny end-to-end experiments: Turn big ideas into the smallest usable slice that still solves a real problem for someone, and build or test that before attempting anything broader.
9. Let the next step define “done”: For each slice or group, call it “done” when it is just good enough for the very next piece of work to start, and push everything else later.
10. Protect and improve the whole: After each step, zoom out and ask whether the whole thing now feels clearer, simpler, and more coherent, and adjust before adding more.
11. Keep a steady zoom rhythm: Move back and forth between revisiting the overall plan and building small concrete slices, letting each finished slice reshape your view of what should come next.