Tam. This is the post I wish someone had handed me months ago when I first cracked open Lovable thinking, “how hard could it be?” 😂 You articulated so clearly what so many builder-founders hit: that moment when fast tools meet fuzzy thinking. Your shift from “how do I build this” to “what actually needs to be built” is game-changing, and I love that you didn’t just talk theory, you gave the PRD prompt, the user flow breakdown, and the actual backend structure logic.
Saving this as required reading, especially the part about using AI to clarify, not just code. It’s such a flex to show that strategy is the real superpower here, not just the stack.
Thank you for sharing the behind-the-scenes, not just the highlight reel!
Right? It’s still a learning process! It just might be one of those things where you just have to experience it to learn it.
It can be too easy to let AI do all the thinking and take it at face value. It’s something I still have to be intentional about and remember to ask the why, how, and if there’s a better way.
I've dabbled with Lovable but after reading this... What was I doing!?
As newbie product designer with no coding knowledge, this is soo helpful! I completely see why PRDs are critical when it comes to building with AI tools. Breaking tasks down was one of my struggles and having a roadmap first to know where to go/how to go about it is so important.
Thank you Tam for your detailed breakdown, will be saving this article and referencing it when I finally decide on what to build with Lovable again!
Hey Lala, trust me, we've all been there. I spent hours figuring this out myself too as a newbie in app development. Once you pick it up again you may find yourself hooked :) Good luck and if you feel so inclined to share, I'd love to know what you build next!
Thanks for such a detailed and generous breakdown, bookmarking this to revisit when I finally get around to building my own app. I’ve been planning something with vibe coding, mostly for personal use, but struggling to find time to start. I really liked the part about “Deconstructing the Giant.” It’s not just for app dev, breaking any project into smaller, concrete chunks makes the whole thing less intimidating and way more doable.
I have a feeling once you get started you’ll be hooked! And yes, I agree that with any project it makes things much more manageable to chunk things out. Excited to see what you’ll build, Luan!
Thanks for breaking this down so clearly, Tam! This is exactly the kind of guidance I'd follow when building apps (though I’ll admit I don’t always follow all the smart rules).
Also, your personal site is incredibly well put together, packed with valuable resources and clearly a lot of thoughtful effort.
Huge respect on your creating all the videos and social posts!
Oh believe me. You’re not alone in not following all the rules! It just depends on balancing speed vs precision and the ultimate goal of the application.
And thank you, I appreciate the kind feedback on the site. Personal and biz sites drive me nuts because it’s easy to get perfectionistic about it. But it could also just be me.
This is super useful!! I actually started just last week building a similar project to store and organize my own prompts, so this came at the perfect time. I’ve already run into a lot of the same things you mention here, like skipping the PRD at first and then regretting it later, haha. Thanks for sharing such a clear, thoughtful breakdown.
Glad it resonated and came at the right time! And yes, the skipped PRD struggle is very real. I’d love to hear how your project evolves. Keep me posted!
Tam. This is the post I wish someone had handed me months ago when I first cracked open Lovable thinking, “how hard could it be?” 😂 You articulated so clearly what so many builder-founders hit: that moment when fast tools meet fuzzy thinking. Your shift from “how do I build this” to “what actually needs to be built” is game-changing, and I love that you didn’t just talk theory, you gave the PRD prompt, the user flow breakdown, and the actual backend structure logic.
Saving this as required reading, especially the part about using AI to clarify, not just code. It’s such a flex to show that strategy is the real superpower here, not just the stack.
Thank you for sharing the behind-the-scenes, not just the highlight reel!
Right? It’s still a learning process! It just might be one of those things where you just have to experience it to learn it.
It can be too easy to let AI do all the thinking and take it at face value. It’s something I still have to be intentional about and remember to ask the why, how, and if there’s a better way.
I've dabbled with Lovable but after reading this... What was I doing!?
As newbie product designer with no coding knowledge, this is soo helpful! I completely see why PRDs are critical when it comes to building with AI tools. Breaking tasks down was one of my struggles and having a roadmap first to know where to go/how to go about it is so important.
Thank you Tam for your detailed breakdown, will be saving this article and referencing it when I finally decide on what to build with Lovable again!
Hey Lala, trust me, we've all been there. I spent hours figuring this out myself too as a newbie in app development. Once you pick it up again you may find yourself hooked :) Good luck and if you feel so inclined to share, I'd love to know what you build next!
Thanks! When I get to building again, I’ll definitely share!
Thanks for such a detailed and generous breakdown, bookmarking this to revisit when I finally get around to building my own app. I’ve been planning something with vibe coding, mostly for personal use, but struggling to find time to start. I really liked the part about “Deconstructing the Giant.” It’s not just for app dev, breaking any project into smaller, concrete chunks makes the whole thing less intimidating and way more doable.
I have a feeling once you get started you’ll be hooked! And yes, I agree that with any project it makes things much more manageable to chunk things out. Excited to see what you’ll build, Luan!
Thanks for breaking this down so clearly, Tam! This is exactly the kind of guidance I'd follow when building apps (though I’ll admit I don’t always follow all the smart rules).
Also, your personal site is incredibly well put together, packed with valuable resources and clearly a lot of thoughtful effort.
Huge respect on your creating all the videos and social posts!
Oh believe me. You’re not alone in not following all the rules! It just depends on balancing speed vs precision and the ultimate goal of the application.
And thank you, I appreciate the kind feedback on the site. Personal and biz sites drive me nuts because it’s easy to get perfectionistic about it. But it could also just be me.
This is super useful!! I actually started just last week building a similar project to store and organize my own prompts, so this came at the perfect time. I’ve already run into a lot of the same things you mention here, like skipping the PRD at first and then regretting it later, haha. Thanks for sharing such a clear, thoughtful breakdown.
Glad it resonated and came at the right time! And yes, the skipped PRD struggle is very real. I’d love to hear how your project evolves. Keep me posted!