A neighborhood resource-sharing app designed for elderly users, taken from initial concept through interactive prototype to a production-ready Figma design file — entirely through AI-assisted design with Claude.
The Problem
In my neighborhood, people own tools, equipment, and skills they'd happily share — but there's no organized way to discover or borrow them. Elderly neighbors especially need help with seasonal tasks like snow removal but don't always know who on their street has a snowblower or is willing to help.
The goal was to design a simple, accessible app that connects neighbors with shared resources — with accessibility as a first-class constraint from the very beginning, not an afterthought.
Design Process
The project moved through three distinct phases, each building on the last — using Claude as a design and product thinking partner throughout.
Scoped the project through targeted questions: who the users are, how they log in, what resource types to support, where data lives, and which features matter most. This shaped the product before any pixels were touched.
Built a working HTML/JS prototype with auth, resource browsing, checkout, and sharing flows. When the primary users were identified as elderly neighbors, the entire prototype was rebuilt with accessibility as a first-class constraint — 52px minimum touch targets, high-contrast styling, plain language, and persistent bottom navigation.
Using Figma's MCP integration, Claude programmatically created a design file and built all screens using the Plugin API. Iterative updates — adding new screens, modifying fields, shifting layouts — were handled without rebuilding from scratch.
Key Design Decisions
Touch targets are at least 52px, text is 17–20px throughout, and the color palette uses high-contrast pairings verified against WCAG AA. Language is deliberately plain — "Borrow this" rather than "Check out," with error messages that tell you what to do rather than just what went wrong.
Navigation uses a persistent three-tab bottom bar with large icons and labels, avoiding hamburger menus or nested dropdowns that can frustrate older users.
When a neighbor checks out a snowblower, they can indicate they're clearing an entire street. Neighbors registered on that street see a prominent green alert banner when they open the app, letting them know they don't need to shovel. This required designing both the checkout-side flow (street coverage toggle + street name input) and the recipient-side experience (contextual alert banner with time information).
Every interactive element meets the minimum touch target size for users with reduced dexterity.
All color pairings verified against WCAG AA contrast ratios for users with low vision.
"Borrow this" not "Check out." Error messages that explain what to do, not just what went wrong.
Three-tab bottom bar with large icons and labels — no hamburger menus or nested dropdowns.
Figma Designs
The Figma file contains all screens from sign-in through resource sharing, built programmatically via Claude's Figma MCP integration.
AI-Assisted Workflow
This project demonstrates a complete design workflow — problem definition, scoping, prototyping, user-centered iteration, and production-ready Figma output — conducted entirely through conversation with an AI partner. Each phase built on the previous one, maintaining context across the full arc of the project.
Reflections
Rebuilding the prototype around elderly users once they were identified reinforced that accessibility constraints make better products for everyone — not just the target user.
Using Claude throughout the process — from scoping questions to Figma MCP automation — showed how AI can accelerate the full design workflow without sacrificing quality or craft.
The structured concept definition phase at the start prevented rework later. Knowing exactly who the users are and what the product needs to do before touching Figma is always worth the time.
Choosing "Borrow this" over "Check out" is as much a design decision as choosing a color or a typeface. Language shapes how users feel about a product.