The #1 Hack to Build Apps With AI Without Getting Stuck | Colin Matthews
Feb 2, 2025
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Colin Matthews, a rockstar instructor known for his popular AI Prototyping for PMs course, dives into the world of building AI apps without coding skills. He shares crucial tips on selecting the right AI prototyping tool and emphasizes the importance of planning before coding. Listeners will learn how to create a habit-tracking app in just 20 minutes and avoid common pitfalls in the development process. Colin also discusses the necessity of a strong data model and offers strategies to overcome the frustrating '70% problem' in app development.
Planning before coding helps visualize project goals and improve understanding of structure, fostering smoother development.
Selecting the right AI prototyping tool is crucial for efficiency, enabling tailored solutions based on application needs and environments.
Deep dives
The Importance of Planning Before Coding
A significant technique highlighted is the practice of planning before diving into coding. This approach allows for users to visualize what they intend to create, offering an opportunity to modify the plan before implementation. By refraining from immediate code writing, users gain a deeper understanding of the project structure and logic, which enables better navigation through the coding process later. This technique emphasizes the value of strategic thinking over impulsive coding, leading to more effective and streamlined development.
Choosing the Right AI Prototyping Tool
The discussion includes a framework for selecting suitable AI prototyping tools, categorized into chatbots, cloud development environments, and local development assistants. Each tool serves specific needs based on the application stack, with cloud environments often providing more comprehensive functionalities, such as server-side capabilities and database integration. Tools like Replit are recommended for their ability to handle both client-side and server-side development seamlessly. Selecting the right tool can significantly influence the efficiency and effectiveness of the prototyping process.
Iterative Prototyping and User Feedback
The podcast emphasizes the importance of iterative prototyping to refine ideas and gather user feedback effectively. Rather than attempting to produce a fully polished product in one go, breaking down features into manageable components allows for gradual improvement and user testing. For example, building simple tools that address specific problems, such as resizing images for Substack, demonstrates how AI can help efficiently solve real-world challenges. By continuously integrating user feedback into the prototyping cycle, developers can better align the final product with user needs.
Technical Foundation for Product Management
Building a technical foundation is crucial for product managers who want to engage in prototyping and development discussions. A deeper understanding of the technologies used in product development fosters effective communication with developers and enhances the ability to contribute to technical discussions. The podcast suggests that the ideal outcome of acquiring these skills is not just the capability to code but the ability to conceptualize, prototype, and validate ideas quickly. This shift encourages a more hands-on approach to product management, empowering managers to take initiative in product development.
My guest today is Colin Matthews.
Colin is a rockstar instructor who teaches a popular AI Prototyping for PMs course on building AI apps without coding skills. In our interview, Colin shared how to pick the right AI prototyping tool, what you should do before asking AI to code, and how to build a habit-tracking app step by step in just 20 minutes.
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Timestamps:
(00:00) Do this before asking AI to code
(01:13) How to pick the right AI prototyping tool
(05:50) Choosing AI tools for client, server, and database
(10:49) Building a habit-tracking app step by step(14:02) Always start with the data model
(22:08) Top mistakes to avoid with AI prototyping
(27:14) Should you still learn to be technical with AI?
(32:13) Avoiding the 70% problem and getting stuck on bugs
(33:59) How to learn to code through AI prototyping
Get the takeaways: https://creatoreconomy.so/p/the-number-one-hack-to-build-with-ai-without-getting-stuck
Where to find Colin:
Get $100 off Colin's prototyping course: https://maven.com/tech-for-product/ai-prototyping-for-product-managers?promoCode=peter100
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