My goal with this project was to explore rapid prototyping with AI tools to create a mobile app for Halloween Horror Nights superfans to track their progress through the season, as well as to brush up on my skills with mobile app design.
How might I leverage AI tools to develop an idea for something fun and thematic that serves a niche audience, while brushing up on my skills with mobile app design?
Collaborate with AI to refine idea, understand persona, pin down core features, and rapidly prototype design. Work with AI to refine app-specific design patterns and features.
I started with a simple goal: create something fun, thematic, and useful for HHN superfans. I used AI tools to help validate the idea and gather quick research on fan behaviors, common social posts, and what people love most about the event.
I mapped out a lightweight, stat-focused experience centered around a dashboard. From there, I identified the core features:
I leaned on AI to explore visual directions and UI components keeping everything app-focused, dark-themed, and in the spirit of Halloween. Once I had a base design, I loaded my codebase into Cursor and continued to iterate as I built.
Fast ideation and research generation using AI-powered tools
Ability to seamlessly pivot when considering frameworks and libraries
Reduction in time from initial concept to working MVP
AI tools sometimes excel at generating unexpected design and interaction concepts that human designers might not consider, serving as powerful collaboration partners.
Mobile designs require careful balance between intent and usability. AI helps with exploring this balance more efficiently.
AI tools allow for more experimental approaches without significant time investment. Persoanlly, they make me unafraid to have to go back and change things as I work.
While AI generates great concepts, human judgment remains crucial for selecting and refining the most viable solutions. AI can't know our users and audiences the way we do.
I would love to get this in front of users and get feedback on the design and functionality. My next step will be to have friends in the HHN community test it out and give me feedback.