diff --git a/Flutter-Requirements.md b/Flutter-Requirements.md
index cdfcf43b8..8074f8ac0 100644
--- a/Flutter-Requirements.md
+++ b/Flutter-Requirements.md
@@ -62,3 +62,13 @@ on all platforms.
 
 Symptoms of missing fonts can include text failing to display, console logging
 about failure to load fonts, or in some cases crashes.
+
+## Plugins
+
+If your project uses any plugins with platform components, they won't
+work, as the native side will be missing. Depending on how the Dart side of the
+plugin is written, they may fail gracefully, or may throw errors.
+
+You may need to make the calls to those plugins conditional based on the host
+platform. Alternately, if you have the expertise, you could implement the native
+side of the plugin in your desktop project(s).
diff --git a/Quick-Start.md b/Quick-Start.md
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..8c6c49a00
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Quick-Start.md
@@ -0,0 +1,48 @@
+# Quick Start
+
+A common question for people discovering this project is: How do I easily add
+desktop support to my existing Flutter application?
+
+The answer is that at this point, you don't. The project is still in early
+stages, and a lot of things are still in flux; if you don't already have
+experience doing desktop development on the platform(s) you want to add,
+this project is probably not ready for you to use it yet. The focus is currently
+on improving core functionality, not on ease of use. Neither the API surface nor
+the project structure are stable, and no attempt will be made to provide
+supported migration paths as things change.
+
+However, if you want to try out an existing Flutter application running on the
+desktop even with those caveats, and don't have experience with desktop
+development, here are two approaches that might work for you.
+
+With either approach, be sure to follow the [main README](README.md) and
+[library README](library/README.md) instructions on setting up prerequisites
+and adjusting your Flutter application.
+
+## Replace the 'example' Flutter Code
+
+Since `example/` is already configured to run on all the platforms this project
+supports, you can swap in your project's Dart code, `pubspec.yaml`, resources,
+etc., then follow the [normal directions](example/README.md) for building the
+example application on your platform.
+
+This will be the easiest approach to keep working as the project changes, but
+requires that you essentially wrap your whole application in a
+flutter-desktop-embedding checkout.
+
+## Copy the '\*\_fde' Directories
+
+Starting from the example projects means you don't have to create projects from
+scratch, and since they are self-contained they can be added to an existing
+project without needing to move it. However, because the projects build
+the flutter-desktop-embedding libraries from source, they contain relative paths
+to the flutter-desktop-embedding projects and tools they depend on. You will
+need to update those paths in order for the projects to work. On Linux, the
+variables you will need to change are documented in the Makefile. On macOS and
+Windows, you will need some familiarity with Xcode and Visual Studio
+respectively to make the changes.
+
+With this approach, you should expect breakage when you update the
+flutter-desktop-embedding reposity; when that happens you will need to look at
+what has changed in the exmaple projects and update your copies accordingly, or
+start over with fresh copies and adjust the paths again.
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 36fd1f8ec..d8bd010f5 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -11,6 +11,9 @@ optional plugins to access other native platform functionality.
 
 ## How to Use This Code
 
+_If you have an existing Flutter app and just want to get it running, see
+the [quick start](Quick-Start.md) page before continuing._
+
 ### Setting Up
 
 The tooling and build infrastructure for this project requires that you have