2026-02-09|3 min read|--journey--ai--indie-maker--intro

The Challenge: A Designer Building Products with AI in 2026

Early this year, I found myself deep in a YouTube rabbit hole. The algorithm kept serving me videos about AI, Claude Code, "make money with AI", "build apps without coding"... one video led to ten more, like being at a bar where someone keeps refilling your glass before you finish.

At first, I thought it was just clickbait. YouTubers do that — big titles, same content. But after watching enough of them, my hands started itching. You know that feeling when you watch someone make dumplings and suddenly want to try rolling one yourself?

## A bit about me

I'm a designer. Photoshop, Illustrator, Canva, occasional hand sketches. My relationship with code started back in the Yahoo 360 blog era — when knowing how to add background music to your blog made you a legend. Since then, code and I have been like old acquaintances: we recognize each other, but we're not exactly friends.

I know layout. I know color. I know what makes a user tap instead of scroll past. I spent years learning these things. But turning those ideas into working software? That always required a developer. Or a team. Or money.

## Then AI happened

One evening, I opened Claude Code and typed: "Build me a simple website." And it did. Actually did it. Watching lines of code stream across a dark terminal felt like hiring a contractor who understands your vision without blueprints — and works ten times faster than anyone you've met, no lunch breaks, no complaints.

That moment changed something. I realized I had one half of the equation — the design thinking, the user empathy, the product sense. AI could be the other half.

## The challenge

So here's what I'm doing in 2026: using AI plus my design skills to build real products and make money from them. Solo. No team. No funding. No job applications. Just me, a laptop, and a few AI companions.

The rules are simple:

  • >Ship fast, iterate later. Done is better than perfect.
  • >Free tier first. Every tool starts at $0 until proven necessary.
  • >Build in public. Share what works, what breaks, and what I learn.
  • >Stay solo. The whole point is proving one person can do this.

## What I'm building

Right now, I have several projects in different stages:

  • >Hũ Vàng (huvang.vn) — A simple asset tracking app for Vietnamese people. Gold prices, stock tracking, portfolio management. The kind of tool my aunts and uncles can actually use.
  • >FlashKid — Flashcard app for Vietnamese kids learning English. Spaced repetition, auto-generated images, text-to-speech.
  • >VocabVault — A commercial API that provides vocabulary illustration images for developers.
  • >SCOUT v4 — An AI-powered opportunity analysis tool for indie makers.

All built with React, Firebase, and a lot of conversations with Claude.

## Why I'm writing this

I don't know if I'll look back at the end of the year laughing or crying. But at least I'll have a good story to tell — better than sitting on YouTube watching other people build things and sighing.

This blog is where I document the journey. The things I learn, the things I break, the things I find interesting. If you're curious about AI but don't know where to start, follow along. Maybe when I trip over a pothole, you'll know to step around it.

Let's begin.

I'm Giang Hải Sơn — a designer lost in the land of code. Follow my journey at gianghaison.me or find me on Facebook.