Have you ever had a random app idea pop into your head—in the shower, in traffic, or while making coffee—and thought, “This could be something…”? That happens to me more often than I care to admit. For a while, those ideas just sat in a Notion page or fizzled out after the first draft. But lately, I’ve developed a workflow that helps me turn ideas into actual, working websites within a day—sometimes just a few hours. Here’s exactly how I do it using AI tools, quick decision-making, and a lot of caffeinated momentum.
✨ Step 1: Ideation — Capturing the Chaos
This is my favourite part—because it’s messy and fun.
- Brain Dump: I start by dumping every thought into Notion. Doesn’t matter how unpolished it sounds. Dreamt it? Noted.
- Rubber Duck ChatGPT: Then I jump into ChatGPT and treat it like a sounding board. I throw wild questions at it like, “Would anyone use this?” or “Who would actually pay for this?”
- Quick Market Scan: I ask Perplexity or Claude to show me if something similar exists. Sometimes it boosts my confidence, sometimes it pivots the idea completely.
📊 Step 2: Planning — Making It Real
I used to skip planning. Now, I find it saves me hours.
- Mapping It Out: Tools like FigJam or Whimsical help me sketch flows or feature maps.
- Define MVP: I ask AI, “What’s the absolute smallest version of this that works?” This one trick reduces overwhelm more than any productivity hack I’ve tried.
- Solo Sanity: Since I work alone most of the time, I record Loom videos or use ScribeHow to document rough thoughts.
🎨 Step 3: Design — Good Enough Is Great
I’m not a designer. Let’s just say that upfront.
- Quick Mockups: I started using Framer and Uizard when Figma got too much. These let me get something decent-looking fast.
- Vizly + ChatGPT Prompts: I let GPT write the prompt, feed that into Vizly, and boom—I have UI to work with.
- Sketch-to-Mockup: I’ve literally taken photos of notebook drawings and turned them into web components with these tools.
- Style Cheats: I keep Coolors and Khroma bookmarked for instant colour palettes.
⚖️ Step 4: Tech Stack — Don’t Overthink It
This used to be a rabbit hole. Now I ask Claude to shortlist options.
- What I Use:
- Frontend: Next.js with TailwindCSS.
- Backend: Netlify Edge Functions.
- Database: Supabase (Postgres + Auth).
- CMS (if needed): Notion-as-CMS or Sanity.
- Tip: AI doesn’t just tell you what to use—it explains why it fits your level or project.
💻 Step 5: Coding — Sprint, Don’t Stroll
This is where I set timers and go.
- Editor: I switch between Cursor and VS Code depending on how “AI-dependent” I want to be that day.
- Timebox It: I give myself 1-hour challenges. It adds urgency and keeps me from endlessly fiddling.
- Frontend with AI Help: I copy the mockup, ask Claude/Cursor to translate it into responsive HTML+TailwindCSS. Shockingly accurate.
- Backend, My Way: I prefer writing backend manually. Too many hours wasted debugging AI’s logic.
- Supabase Love: It covers auth, storage, and realtime DB in one go. It’s like Firebase, but open-source and Aussie-friendly.
🌐 Step 6: Deploy — Ship It Like It’s Hot
This part always feels like crossing the finish line.
- Netlify Everything: I push to GitHub, Netlify auto-deploys. Zero config, SSL included, and it handles my environment variables.
- Netlify Functions are magic. I write quick server logic without setting up an entire backend.
- Domains: I use Porkbun or Namecheap. Easy DNS setup with Netlify.
- Not Everything Goes Live: Internal dashboards or one-off automations stay private. Still valuable.
🚀 Final Thought: Start Scrappy, Stay Consistent
I’ve realised that perfectionism kills more ideas than bad code ever could. So I’ve trained myself to just ship. Even if the site is janky or the UI feels off, it’s live, and I can learn from it.
If you’re stuck, give yourself 60 minutes. No more. Pick an idea, set a timer, and let AI do the lifting where it can.
If you liked this post, I’m planning to write more behind-the-scenes on building fast, automating content, and scaling side projects using AI. Let me know!
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