The author is tasked with creating an automated spreadsheet to track player point totals during the NCAA men's and women's college basketball tournaments, but finds it a tedious job due to the large number of games, teams, and players involved. To make things easier, they decide to build an app using React and Contentful, which provides an API for accessing player data. The app allows participants to draft their all-star team, and the author uses the Contentful App Framework to create a user-friendly UI and manage the draft process efficiently. They also explore the benefits of building custom apps in Contentful, including added validation, integration with third-party services, and enabling business processes such as publishing content that triggers various activities. The author notes that while not every project requires a custom app, it can be beneficial for projects where editors need powerful tools to excel at their craft.