VERSION 1
Experimenting.
- I TRIED
- A green pixel field, six projects and a hidden ping pong game.
- I LEARNED
- AI is fast at building. It has no idea what matters.
CATTO: AI was fast at the building, clueless about what mattered.
THE VERSION LOG
Ten versions of this site.
Eighty-one tries.
I rebuilt my portfolio with AI, over and over, to find out what it's good at and what it still needs a person for.
Here's every version that mattered: what I tried, what I learned, and the old ones you can still walk around in. Brands are swapped for placeholders, everything else is as it was.
VERSION 2
Doubling down.
- I TRIED
- More of everything: talking people, night mode, a patient fisherman.
- I LEARNED
- Doubling down only works if you double the right thing.
CATTO: More of everything. Even the fish were confused.
VERSION 3
Trying on a personality.
- I TRIED
- I swapped pixels for a dark vinyl shelf. I don't even listen to vinyl.
- I LEARNED
- AI can try on ten styles in an afternoon. It can't tell you which one is yours.
CATTO: A whole shelf of records. He doesn't listen to vinyl.
VERSION 4
Learning to say no.
- I TRIED
- Back to pixels. Fewer jokes, and real numbers instead of “∞ files”.
- I LEARNED
- AI says yes to everything. Taste is knowing what to throw away.
CATTO: He said no a lot. I respect that.
VERSION 5
Building a tower.
- I TRIED
- A tower you climb floor by floor, with a full case study on every floor.
- I LEARNED
- I designed for the visitor I wanted, not the one who actually shows up.
CATTO: Nine floors of reading. I napped on floor two.
VERSION 6
Shifting gears.
- I TRIED
- I studied other people's work, then flipped the tower upside down.
- I LEARNED
- Good references make better prompts. The taste goes in before the prompt does.
CATTO: He flipped the tower. I landed on my feet.
VERSION 7
Making it easy.
- I TRIED
- Every floor answers three questions: how long, what I owned, what I solved.
- I LEARNED
- AI writes long. Clarity means asking for less.
CATTO: Clear. Quick. Useful. Bit boring. Needed a cat.
VERSION 8
Easter eggs.
- I TRIED
- A cat by the lamp, a moon that cracks and a rod you can actually fish with.
- I LEARNED
- Delight is a choice. AI doesn't wonder what would make you smile.
CATTO: I'm in it now. Tap me thirteen times. I dare you.
VERSION 9
Getting side-tracked.
- I TRIED
- Three small games under the sea, and a track I played myself.
- I LEARNED
- The side-tracks taught me the most about building with AI.
CATTO: Three games, one song. The portfolio waited.
VERSION 10
It's live.
- I TRIED
- ninad.app, with SEO and a sitemap. Google can find it now.
- I LEARNED
- AI built most of it. Deciding what was good stayed my job.
CATTO: The sun's up. There's a dock with your name on it.
81OUTPUTS, V1 TO LIVE
What I brought to every one of them, that AI couldn't
AI did most of the making. These are the parts that decided whether any of it was good.
- Taste. What looks right, not just what looks impressive.
- Saying no. To vinyl, to extra features, to good ideas that weren't mine.
- References. Knowing whose work to learn from.
- The truth. No made-up numbers, no claims I can't back up.
- The details. Like a cat that says “OK. STOP.” on the thirteenth tap.
THERE'S A DOCK WITH YOUR NAME ON IT.
GO TO NINAD.APP →