Why do I need a developer when I can build with AI?

After rebuilding my personal website with AI, we’re now moving TeamUp from Webflow to a custom-coded site so we can update pages and publish articles more easily with AI.

This time, I’m working with our designer and developer, François.

Hiring someone might seem strange after spending the last month discovering how much I can build myself. But that experience has also helped me understand where I want expert help.

My personal site uses Astro, GitHub and Cloudflare. For TeamUp, we’re using Next.js, GitHub and Vercel for hosting. François prefers Next.js and has experience with it. I’m new to this, so I’m happy to follow his lead.

Why I’m bringing in an expert

I’m happy with how my personal website looks. But I’ve also noticed a familiar look to some AI-built websites, and I don’t want TeamUp to end up feeling generic.

We’ve already invested in its design. I want to carry that quality into the new site.

I also want help with architecture and technical decisions. Will what we build now support where we want to take the website in a few years? Which choices could involve expensive rework later? And what am I missing because I don’t yet know enough to ask?

My personal website was a good place to experiment. TeamUp’s website is a business asset, and the consequences of getting things wrong are bigger.

I’ve worked with François across TeamUp and Bean Ninjas for around six years. He covers graphic design, UI and UX, product design and development. I like his style, he communicates well, and we already work well together.

Working out who builds what

My initial idea was for Marg, who’s developing her SEO and AEO (answer engine optimisation) skills, to build the site using Claude Code. I would guide the priorities and content, with François helping on design, technical decisions and launch.

Marg and I had already started experimenting in a TeamUp GitHub repo. But François explained why having him do the initial build could be faster.

The reusable components and design system take shape as he builds. By the time those foundations are established, much of the rebuild is already done. He can also automate a lot of the content migration.

Having us build every page, with him reviewing along the way, might not be the quickest way to get there. And speed matters. I want to rewrite a lot of our articles and do more work on SEO using the new AI-first workflow.

So we’ve agreed that François will establish the technical foundations, reusable components and templates, and do the initial migration. Marg and I will check the migrated content and build additional pages as needed.

When we’re ready to launch, he’ll handle the redirects, final technical checks and move from Webflow to the new hosting.

To keep the timeline under control, the article rewrites, final categories, homepage changes and careers hub can come after launch.

I’m paying for speed, design judgement, technical foundations, the cutover and training. The intention is for us to take over ongoing updates, with someone we trust available when we need help.

Learning alongside François

Building the whole site ourselves could have been a good learning project. But I’m hoping we can learn faster by working alongside François.

I’ve asked him to record short walkthroughs explaining what he’s doing and why, where that won’t add much extra work. He’ll also run a handover session and review Marg’s first couple of pull requests.

We’ll put that learning into practice by publishing articles, updating pages and building on the components he’s created. François will be there to review our early work and help us build the confidence to manage ongoing improvements ourselves.

I used to design websites in spreadsheets

This is what one of my website briefs looked like in January 2024.

I used cells to map out sections and copy. It explained the structure, but didn’t really show what I wanted the page to look like. 😂

Now I can explore ideas with ChatGPT and Claude Design, then share mockups with François alongside notes and a recorded walkthrough.

For the Resources section, I’ve been testing different ways to present articles, including cards versus lists and whether images or short descriptions add value.

That gives François a clearer starting point, while leaving room for his judgement.

Previously, I’d lock down the copy first. François would then design the pages in Figma, update based on my feedback and then build them. Later changes could mean another round of design and development.

Now his approach is to build a base and reshape it together. He described it as shaping clay, which helped me feel comfortable starting before every detail was settled.

Do we need a CMS?

We’re starting with articles and success stories as MDX files, stored in GitHub alongside the website code.

My research initially pointed towards a content management system (CMS) such as Sanity for multiple publishers. But for now, it’s only Marg and me, and we’re both comfortable using GitHub. We don’t need scheduled publishing either, so François suggested skipping the CMS.

I’ve tested this workflow on my personal site: I give Claude instructions and it uploads the article. It’s been smooth, and I like having one workflow for publishing content and changing pages. We haven’t tried it on TeamUp yet.

Bennett from Maintouch, an SEO & AEO platform, recommended a CMS to help standardise content and reduce mistakes, such as accidentally changing a URL without a redirect. His service also integrates with CMSs, and he pointed out that Sanity can work with AI too.

We’re proceeding with MDX, but I want to ask François what adding Sanity later would involve and whether we should plan for that now.

Moving forward

We’ve given the project the green light and are about to begin.

For this rebuild, I want François’s design judgement, help with technical decisions and experience getting the site live. I also want him to help Marg and me become more capable.

AI has already changed what I can bring to the project. I can test ideas, create mockups and ask more specific questions. Now we’ll see how that translates into building and maintaining the TeamUp site together.