70 / How I Built and Launched an AI-Powered App in 20 Days (as a Designer)
JAM is launched!
Hello my friend! 👋
Last week, I launched my new product: JAM, an AI speaking coach.
It has been live for just 10 days. With only two of us building, every step feels worth celebrating.
✅ 500+ downloads
✅ $80+ in monthly revenue
✅ 3 versions shipped (bugs fixed + smoother experience)
✅ Chinese + English UI supported
We also launched a campaign for Chinese-speaking users: Free monthly code → 30-day English challenge. 100+ downloads in the first 12 hours.
On the backend, we built a notification system, internal tools, and push notifications in just a couple of days. At my previous role, that same setup took 3 teams months.
The biggest win? I’m closer than ever to business and product decisions. Design thinking helps me connect everything I’ve learned and put it straight into JAM.
Next step: marketing. I’ll be spending half my time there, and I’m excited to see where it takes us.
Check on App Store:
https://apps.apple.com/us/app/jam/id6749299926
How I Built and Launched an AI-Powered App in 20 Days (as a Designer)
From idea to App Store in just 20 days — see exactly how I built an AI-powered iOS app as a designer, without being a full-time coder.
Transform your ideas into real products faster than ever - I'll show you exactly how I went from concept to App Store launch in just 20 days using AI tools like Cursor, with zero coding experience as a designer.
I'll walk you through my process, from using ChatGPT to validate the concept and building a functional prototype with Cursor, to collaborating with a developer and submitting the final product. This video isn't about code; it's about leveraging AI tools to turn your creative ideas into reality, even if you don't have a technical background.
This is a real-world case study for designers and tech professionals who want to explore how modern AI tools can accelerate their workflow, validate product ideas, and build functional prototypes faster than ever.
Other Goodies of the week
11 lessons from a year of using AI in my daily work
In his UX Collective article, Jan Takacs shares what he learned from a year of heavy AI use — aptly titled “From Hype to Habit.” Several points stood out to me:
In multilingual work, English as the input language still delivers the highest-quality output.
Great input = great output — the better you feed the AI, the better the results.
The best outcomes often come when there’s almost a 1:1 ratio between input and output, rather than expecting the AI to spin gold from a vague prompt.
Increasingly, he prefers speaking to AI over typing, especially as model quality improves.
To get the most from AI long-term, you need to stay sharp — read, learn, think deeply, explore — and resist offloading too much, or your mental “muscle” will weaken.
For me, this reinforces one key adjustment: even though Chinese is my native language, keeping English as my primary input to AI can immediately improve quality. It’s a simple yet impactful change I’ll adopt as a long-term habit, treating AI as a thought partner, not a substitute.
Another point that really resonated with me is the importance of resisting the temptation to hand over all your work to AI. This kind of dependency can cause your “mental muscles” to atrophy over time. The most powerful way to use AI isn’t to have it do everything for you, but to treat it as a partner — one that broadens your perspective and deepens your thinking. We have to stay sharp and keep learning, rather than getting too comfortable, because once our thinking skills deteriorate, rebuilding them becomes incredibly hard.
Original link: https://uxdesign.cc/11-lessons-from-a-year-of-using-ai-in-my-daily-work-f03c18c7f861
5 AI Tools That Save Me 100+ Hours of Editing!
I just watched a video from Think Media that shared 5 AI tools for supercharging your editing workflow. For creators who are constantly producing content, these tools are like having a powerful production assistant that drastically cuts down on repetitive tasks. They handle everything from visuals and audio to carving out the best moments from long videos, giving us more time to focus on the creative side of things.
Here's a quick rundown of the 5 tools:
CapCut: Beyond standard editing features, its powerful AI background removal and video upscaling can clean up your footage with a single click, saving a ton of post-production work.
Adobe Podcast Enhance: This tool is made specifically for audio optimization. It takes bad recordings and makes them sound crisp and clear, giving your podcasts and voice-over videos a professional feel.
Opus: Perfect for short-form content. Just upload a video, and it automatically finds the most engaging clips, adds captions, titles, and descriptions, making the repurposing process incredibly simple.
VideoLeap: It can automatically slice a long video into 2-minute or 5-10 minute shorts, allowing you to easily pick and export the best parts for different platforms.
Descript: This is a text-based video editor that lets you quickly search for highlights in a transcript and generate clips that are ready to use.
My Take:
I find this "tool combo" approach perfect for a high-volume, time-crunched creator like myself. When I'm promoting a product like JAM, I often need to distribute content across different platforms in multiple formats. These AI tools not only save me a ton of effort but also speed up my production cycle. The best part is that they have a low barrier to entry, so as a creative, I can handle most of the editing myself without needing to be a pro.
These tools reinforce my belief that AI isn't here to replace us; it's here to empower us. It automates the repetitive and mechanical tasks, giving us more time to think and, most importantly, to create.
Original video:
Hello, I’m Bear—a product designer, UX mentor and an award‑winning bilingual podcast host, currently living in Auckland, New Zealand. I enjoy sharing insights from my work, life, and study, helping all of us grow together.
Bear Academy Newsletter is my weekly email packed with thoughts on technology, design, and productivity—featuring book breakdowns, learning tips, and career reflections. Subscribe for free at bear.academy
💬 Contact
Youtube.com/@Bearliu - A video is worth a thousand words
bear@beartalking.com - The old fashion email way
LinkedIn.com/in/bearliu - My professional life
Beartalking.com - all my posts, in English and Chinese
https://twitter.com/bearbig - Majorly I post in Chinese