How to design an app without a designer

1. Write the main user flow

Write, in plain sentences, the path a user takes to get value. For a food app: open app, see lunches nearby, pick one, pay, get pickup time. That list is your first set of screens.

2. Design the core screen first

Start with the screen where the main action happens, not the login or onboarding. It sets your layout, colours and components, and it is the screen everyone will judge.

3. Keep a tiny design system

Consistency matters more than creativity. Decide these once and reuse them on every screen.

• One main colour, one accent, and greys
• Two fonts at most, with a few sizes
• One button style for the main action and one for others
• One corner radius and one spacing unit (for example 8 px)

4. Basic rules that make screens look professional

Most amateur screens fail on the same few points.

• Generous space around and between things
• Text at least 16 px on phones
• Strong contrast between text and background
• One main action per screen, clearly the most visible
• Aligned edges; everything on a grid

5. Test with five people

Show the screens to five people from your audience and ask them to do the main task while you watch silently. Fix where they hesitate. Five tests find most big problems.

Use AI Designer for steps 2 to 4

AI Designer plans your product, locks a design system and applies it to every screen you add, with linked screens you can click through for testing. You describe; it designs. It makes static designs, so you or a developer still build the working app.

What tools do designers use?

Figma is the most common. For a fast start from words, an AI tool like AI Designer creates the first screens for you.

How many screens does an MVP need?

Usually 3 to 8: the core action, what comes before it and what comes after.

Should I design for phone or web first?

Wherever most of your users will be. For consumer apps that is usually phone.

Do I need a logo first?

No. A simple name in a clean font is enough to start.