Case Study No. 1
Zero Hero Case Study
Role: End-to-End Product Designer & Developer: User Research, IA, Visual Design, Accessibility, Vibe Coder
The Challenge:
Financial debt is one of the leading causes of "cognitive paralysis." Similar to a student struggling with high-stakes testing, users facing debt often experience avoidance and anxiety.
I needed to:
• build a tool that didn't just track debt but taught debt-freedom through a differentiated, encouraging UI
The Approach
The Vibe Coding Workflow (AI as a Design Partner)
I wanted to learn how to use AI as a design partner and to have the freedom to ideate on generative AI features. This project is my proof of concept.
The Process: I used a Design-Led Development approach utilizing Lovable, Claude, Chat GPT, and Gemini to "vibe code" the logic.
The Insight: This workflow allowed me to test edge cases (like a user having $0 to contribute) in real-time, iterating on the design within minutes rather than weeks.
Outcomes and Results
After just 90 days of iteration and vibe-coding, a functional, high-fidelity MVP is live at zeroherobudget.com.
