Lesson 01 · How you start

You don't need to know how to code. You need to know how to ask.

Building with AI is a loop: say something small, watch what shows up, then talk in edits. The first fifteen minutes are not the product. They are a thing you can point at.

Write a first ask See the process

Describe · Watch · Tweak

02

The three beats

Skip the big plan. These three moves are the whole craft, on the first day and on the hundredth.

01

Describe

Say the smallest true version. A thing, a person, two or three jobs. Not a product spec.

02

Watch

A first pass is a sketch you can point at. Look at it on a phone. Notice what feels wrong.

03

Tweak

Talk in edits. “Make the type larger.” “Drop the extra page.” Then spruce last.

03

Keep the first ask small

A vague prompt gets a generic app. A giant prompt gets a mess. The useful middle is a brief: named thing, named person, two or three jobs, a feel.

Name the thingA weeknight recipe board — not “an app”.
Name who it's forOne person, in a real moment.
Give it two or three jobsVerbs. Things they do on the first screen.
Pick a feelTone is cheaper than a moodboard.

04

Prompt lab

Fill the four beats. The lab writes a first ask you can copy and send. Your draft stays on this device.

Readiness

Still vague

0 / 4

An AI will guess. Guessing is how you get a generic todo app.

First ask

Build a simple first version of [what it is] for [who it's for].

It should do three small, concrete things (I'll name them next).

Keep the first pass small and usable on a phone. Visual tone: quiet and clear. One screen. No accounts, no settings page, no extra features.

I'll look at it, then we'll edit.

05

After the first pass

You asked for fifteen minutes, a look, some edits, then polish. That is not a shortcut. That is the loop.

01
Easy stuff first
Fifteen minutes. One screen. The jobs it must do today — not the ones it might do later.
02
Look at it
Open the preview. Tap around. The gap between what you said and what you meant becomes obvious.
03
Quick edits
Short notes. Concrete. “The header is too loud.” “Put the add button at the bottom.”
04
Spruce it up
Type, spacing, motion, the last 10%. Polish is a later loop, not the first ask.

06

Steal a starter brief

Four small first asks. Load one into the lab, copy it, or rewrite it until it sounds like you.

Weeknight cook

Eight recipes, one tap, dinner in ten seconds.

a weeknight recipe board for someone who cooks after work and hates scrolling.

Show calendar

Next gig, poster-sized, on a phone.

a local band's show calendar for fans checking dates on their phone.

Chore board

Today's three jobs, then a star tally.

a kids' chore board for a family with two kids, used on the kitchen tablet.

Pocket ledger

This week's spend, no spreadsheet.

a one-person money glance for someone who hates spreadsheets.