Many failed mobile projects fail on acceptance: leadership treats “it opens, it has a logo, it can be shared” as done. That is an e-brochure. A work tool is accepted when someone in gloves can finish reporting, redeeming or looking up status in two minutes. Different goals fork on day one: what sits on home, how many buttons, whether stock is connected.
Home is company intro, awards, case carousels, Contact Us. No tasks, no scan. The form sits at the bottom under “partnership.” It satisfies “we have a mini program.” It does not satisfy “this ticket must close on site today.” Templates stall here most often. See A template mini program is almost as bad as none.
Open it and today’s work is there: tasks, member code, redemption, reordering, status. Every path has a next step. Submit hits the same back office. Employee, member and store homes therefore look nothing alike. See Employee features people will actually use and What belongs on a member mini program home.
A thin budget is not a reason to build an empty hall of fame first. Cut phase one as a tool: fewer pages, real actions, a short path. How to hold cost is in What APP, mini program and H5 cost, and how long they take. Official-account menus alone are usually another brochure container. See Official-account menus without a mini program.
A brochure list is usually: a few comps, it opens, you can change the phone number. A tool list is behavior: can a clerk redeem in eight seconds in a queue; can a patrol enqueue offline; how soon does admin see the submit. Without those lines both sides feel “done” and the floor is still on paper three months later. Write the list into the contract. That is cleaner than arguing later that efficiency never showed up. What efficiency looks like is in Mobile efficiency you can actually see. Finishing on site and cutting rework is in Finish patrols on site, cut rework.
In discovery DaXi asks first: which step should the user finish after they open it? If the answer is “just look,” we name the brochure ceiling. If the answer is “submit a document,” the plan is a tool. Start from the Apps & Mini Programs , or read Field work with a mobile entry versus without.
The two modes can coexist. They cannot fight for the first screen. Brand story sits in About. Tool actions sit where open means visible. A store app especially cannot become a brochure: clerks in a queue need scan, not a carousel. The redemption flow is in How to design store redemption and reordering.
You do not have to leave a brochure in one leap. Connect submit and notify first, then member codes and tasks. Polish visuals in phase two. That is closer to a tool than spending first on a leadership letter. At acceptance walk a real path: submit on site, open it in admin immediately. If that fails, it is still a brochure—you just spent more.
A tool home is usually quieter: less motion, more tasks, fewer clear buttons. Flash is not finish. If leadership insists on a hero video, do not cover scan and submit. Brochure copy can live in About. Do not take the first screen. Add brand story after the tool is in use. Do not reverse the order.
A tool also needs a named reader after submit: shift lead, support, HQ. The client only has to deliver to that step. Someone on duty takes it from there. If those two disconnect, the tool still looks unused.
Tell us the three to five actions that must finish on the phone. The plan will cut as a work tool, not as a hall of fame.