how I do 0 → 1.
I like making things that feel simple and actually usable. And I get there by building, not planning. I’ll throw together a working prototype in about an hour, then work backwards from it. Once something clicks, I turn it into a component library so other people can build on it with me.
Most people go research, then ideas, then Figma mockups, then finally build. I do it backwards. I’d rather explore in code than in Figma. I think with my hands, and something I can click teaches me way more than something I can only look at.
build something in code, in an hour
I skip the mockups and open Cursor or Claude Code. Next.js for web, SwiftUI for iOS. An hour in, I’ve got something I can actually click. Real fonts, real content, real interactions.
It’s rough on purpose. The prototype is how I think.
explore by using it
Then I just sit with it and use it. I’ll try variations right there in code: different layouts, different copy, different flows. This is where I figure out what the thing actually wants to be.
Figma can’t help me here. It won’t show me what 120ms of motion feels like, or whether the keyboard ends up covering the button that matters.
work backwards into a brief
Once I can feel the thing, the brief basically writes itself: who it’s for, what it promises, and where it could fall apart. I’ll have Claude and Perplexity open for context: reviews, similar products, whatever I missed the first time.
package what clicks into a component library
Once a pattern feels right, I pull it out of the prototype into a real component: named, typed, with the variants I actually needed. Color, type, and spacing get the same treatment. They turn into a system once I know what I’m systematizing.
This is the step that turns my sketch into something a team can build on. The library is how I collaborate: a shared vocabulary, not just shared files.
show it to people
I put the prototype in front of a few real people and watch where they hesitate. I’ll also have Claude walk through it as a specific kind of user, and it catches things I’ve gone blind to.
If something needs explaining, I fix it instead.
polish
The last stretch is all the small stuff: reduced motion, dark mode, empty states, the one transition that has to feel right.
This part’s mostly by hand. AI helps, but the “done” call is mine.
explore in code, package what works.
Building something used to mean a long stretch of mockups before anyone could feel it. I’d rather build the real thing first, learn from using it, then turn what works into something the rest of the team can pick up. The prototype is how I think. The library is how I hand it off.