What happens when a visual designer builds an iOS app from scratch — with Claude as the dev. Minimal Xcode experience. 11 days (2 on a free account).
Update the Notion portfolio. And maybe build an iOS app powered by that content — just to see how far it could go.
Started: 18 March 2026 · Free account (first 2 days) · Minimal Xcode experience
For the splash screen animation, I asked Claude to suggest an approach first, then let it proceed. This way I could understand its thinking and tweak as we went — instead of accepting output blindly. And who knows — I might just like what it proposes.
What stuck — some of it technical, some of it harder to articulate.
Explaining what doesn't work, how to fix it, and asking for the AI's input — plus options on how to get there. Over time, the system learns how you like things done. Design critique, brainstorming, and ideation with a collaborator that's always available.
Test in the cheapest environment, validate, then commit. Figured out through friction, not theory — which is the best way to learn it.
Not writing SwiftUI — but reading it, catching issues, knowing when something doesn't match intent. You don't need to be an expert — just enough to understand what's happening under the hood.
Starting messy taught what order things should go in — design foundation first, code follows. A hard lesson in not assuming AI can figure out the sequence on its own.
Claude doesn't get tired, defensive, or emotional — but it also won't push back unless asked. Knowing when to lead, when to ask, when to override, and when to step away: that's AI collaboration literacy.
The Figma MCP is genuinely powerful. It is also still early. Here's what that actually means in practice.
The right mental model: Figma MCP is Claude Code but for Figma files. Use it to automate, generate scaffolding, batch-update. Don't use it to design — that part is still mine.
Entered as a visual designer. Left as something broader. Here's what changed in 11 days.
Before any design, before any code — know what the app needs to show. Write it anywhere. Five minutes. Done. Everything downstream gets better when this exists.
Tokens, colour styles, text styles, components, slots. Build the system before you build the screens — Claude's output becomes dramatically better downstream.
At this point Claude has a proper Figma file, a clear content structure, a defined scope. Better input, better output. Your prompts become cleaner because you're clearer.
Test in the cheapest environment. Validate. Then commit. This one move alone saved hours of dead-end SwiftUI debugging.
Don't build everything, then animate everything, then fix everything. Things can go downhill fast — and they did.
"A sword is only as good as the hand that wields it. AI is at our fingertips — there's no excuse anymore. If I could build this, imagine what the best in the room can do."