Building CrownRank: Challenging Myself to Create an App with AI
As a product manager and founder, I’m used to turning ideas into product decisions. With CrownRank, I’m challenging myself to take that further: can I use AI tools to turn an idea into a working app and put it in front of real users?
This is a personal experiment in building, learning and testing my own abilities. I want to discover how much I can create with the tools available today—and where my judgment, creativity and product experience still make the difference.
The first step is already available: you can visit crownrank.app and join the waiting list.
From a product idea to something people can try
It’s easy to get excited about an idea. The harder part is making it concrete enough for someone else to understand, use and care about.
That’s what I’m working towards with CrownRank.
Rather than keeping the project as a collection of notes and mockups, I’m using Anything.com to build the app. My goal is to shorten the distance between deciding what to create and having something I can evaluate and improve.
I’m also testing myself along the way: how clearly can I describe a user journey? How well can I translate a product requirement into a useful prompt? And can I keep the experience focused as the project evolves?
The tools I’m using to build CrownRank
My current toolkit combines app building, domain management and AI-assisted content creation:
Anything.com: the platform I’m using to create the app.
GoDaddy: for managing the CrownRank domain.
Gemini and Claude: to support content creation, including images and refining prompts.
One part of this experiment is learning how to give these tools better instructions. A broad request can leave too much open to interpretation. A clearer prompt—with a specific objective, context and constraints—gives me a more useful starting point to review.
That review matters. Generating something is only one step; deciding whether it fits the product is another.
Building faster still requires product thinking
For me, the interesting question goes beyond whether AI can help create an app.
It’s whether I can use it to learn faster.
I still need to decide who CrownRank is for, what would make someone want to use it, and which assumptions deserve testing first. A working screen doesn’t answer those questions on its own.
That’s why the waiting list is part of the journey. It gives interested people a way to follow the project and gives me an initial signal of interest. The next challenge is understanding what turns that curiosity into actual use.
Follow the CrownRank journey
CrownRank is my opportunity to combine product experience with hands-on experimentation using AI.
I’m building it to challenge myself, explore what these tools make possible and discover whether the idea resonates with people beyond my own assumptions.
If you’re curious about CrownRank, I’d love to have you along for the journey.