A lesson in building too early, and discovering the joy of AI-assisted coding
I knew I shouldn't go deep into the visual details so early in the process.
Every tutorial, every mentor says the same thing: “Focus on structure first. Design comes later.”
And yet there I was, adjusting paddings, aligning icons, tweaking typography, trying out different shades of green. For hours.
Why? Because I loved it.
I knew I was jumping ahead, obsessing over parts that should come much later. But once I started working on the UI, I simply couldn’t stop. It felt like I was painting, not coding.
My First Time Using Cursor Outside a Tutorial
This week was also the first time I used Cursor for something other than following along with tutorials.
And wow!
The AI autocomplete and inline code suggestions were incredible. As a beginner, I often get stuck on the “how” of implementation even when I understand what I want to do. Cursor made the whole process smoother and more encouraging.
Every time I paused, it filled the silence with a nudge:
“Maybe you meant this?”
“Want me to finish that for you?”
It didn’t feel like cheating, it felt like learning with a smarter friend beside me.
What I Learned (and Need to Keep Learning)
Enjoying design isn’t bad. But it has its place. Structure first, always.
Tools matter. The right editor can dramatically reduce friction for beginners.
Build, even imperfectly. Getting stuck in the details can be fun, but shipping something is even better.
Wrapping Up
This week, I didn’t finish everything I set out to do.
But I did learn a lot about my own working habits, about design temptation, and about how amazing AI tools can be when used well.
If you're just getting started too, know this:
It's okay to get sidetracked if you're enjoying the process. Just remember to come back to the big picture.
If this resonates with you, or if you’ve had similar experiences while building your first projects, I’d love to hear about it.
Let’s keep learning one pixel (or div) at a time.
Date: June 16, 2025
tags: portfolio, webdev, copywriting, ux, learning
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