I’m working on a visa prep tool for students in Southeast Asia who want to apply for a Schengen tourist visa. It helps them work out what documents they need and get their own application file ready.

We’re still at the prototype stage. One thing we’ve decided is that we won’t submit the application or handle people’s passports and bank statements for them. Local agents often do the whole process, so I’m trying to work out whether people would see our approach as more comfortable and in their control, or just less helpful.

If you’ve built a side project in a market where customers are used to someone doing everything for them, how did you figure out what they actually wanted?