The job: You need a simple booking form, tracker or dashboard and can’t justify hiring a developer.
What AI actually does here
- Generates a working app from a written description.
- Edits it as you describe changes (“add a status column”, “email me when…”).
- Explains the code it wrote if you ask.
Tools to look at
- Prompt-to-app builders: Lovable, v0, Replit
- AI code editors for more control: Cursor
Named tools are examples, not endorsements. We have no paid relationships with them at the moment; see our disclosure.
What you need first
- A one-page spec: who uses it, what they enter, what they see.
- Care with logins and personal data. AI-generated code can contain security mistakes; the NCSC’s secure AI development guidelines are a useful checklist.
- Somewhere to keep the code (for example a Git repository) so you can undo changes.
How to measure ROI
- Build cost and time versus quotes for a developer or an off-the-shelf subscription.
- Hours saved per week by the people using the tool.
- Ongoing cost: hosting, the builder subscription and your maintenance time.
Run the numbers in the ROI calculator →
What the evidence says
In a controlled experiment run by GitHub (vendor research), developers using Copilot completed a set coding task 55% faster than those without it. That was a single task with professional developers, so don’t assume the same for your project.
Ready-to-use prompt
Replace the [BRACKETS]. Only paste data you’re allowed to share with the tool you’re using.
View promptBuild a simple web app.
Build a simple web app.
Purpose: [one sentence]
Users: [who, roughly how many]
Screens:
1. [screen]: shows [fields]
2. [screen]: lets user [action]
Data to store: [fields and types]
Rules: [e.g. only admins can delete]
Constraints: mobile friendly, plain British English labels, no personal data beyond [X], include a README explaining how to run it.
Before writing code, list your assumptions and ask me up to 5 questions.Sources
- Lovable (product page) Vendor page
- v0 by Vercel (product page) Vendor page
- Replit (product page) Vendor page
- Cursor (product page) Vendor page
- NCSC, Guidelines for secure AI system development Government guidance
- GitHub, "Research: quantifying GitHub Copilot's impact on developer productivity and happiness" Vendor research
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