I have done similar prototyping in docs, whiteboards, CSV files... The flow is to focus on the data and what are the constraints(rules) on updating the data. The prototyping of api's, screens can come later off of a firm foundation of data, calculations and rules for creation and change.
Show me your flowchart and conceal your tables, and I shall continue to be mystified. Show me your tables, and I won't usually need your flowchart; it'll be obvious." -- Fred Brooks, The Mythical Man Month (1975)