Lovable.dev from a Senior Developer’s Perspective: When AI Design Actually Works

As a senior consultant who spends weekends building side projects, I’ve always had the same problem: my applications work great, but they look like… well, like a backend developer designed them. That changed when I discovered Lovable.dev, an AI-powered tool that promises to “create apps and websites by chatting with AI.” Here’s how it transformed my approach to personal projects.

The Projects: From Portfolio to Twitch Proxy

I put Lovable.dev to the test with two very different projects:

1. My personal homepage - Initially just a portfolio and CV summary, which I later extended with blogging functionality using Cursor
2. A Twitch proxy application - Think Invidious for YouTube, but for Twitch streams. This was a full multi-page application with login pages, landing page, home page, individual stream pages, and OAuth2 integration

The Twitch proxy was particularly ambitious - I had built a functional version myself, but the design clearly showed my backend developer origins.

First Contact: “Oh God, It’s React”

My immediate reaction was, frankly, “Oh god, it’s React (I’m an Angular guy).” As someone who prefers Angular’s structure and developer experience, seeing JSX felt like being handed a perfectly good tool I’d rather not use.

But I pushed through - and I’m glad I did.

The platform uses React with Tailwind CSS, which is a solid technical choice even if it wasn’t my preference. More importantly, Lovable.dev immediately hosts your application as a real, live app that you can share with stakeholders right from their platform.

The Magic Moment: Prompting for Design

Here’s where things got interesting. My prompts were refreshingly simple:

Write me a twitch proxy app similar to what invidious is doing for youtube. It should be having a modern clean looking design language. it should support a responsive view as well.

That’s it. No detailed wireframes, no color schemes, no component specifications. Just a basic description of what I wanted.

The result? Absolutely stunning.

The initial designs looked so polished and professional that I couldn’t believe an AI had generated them. As someone without much UI/UX design experience, seeing these clean, modern interfaces was genuinely inspiring. The design language was cohesive, the responsive layouts worked beautifully, and everything just… looked right.

Another wow moment was realizing they actually give you a hosted copy that you can share with your stakeholders right from their page. No deployment hassles, no configuration - just a working demo you can immediately show to others.

The Workflow That Actually Works

Here’s the process that emerged:

1. Generate the foundation with Lovable.dev (using those precious 5 daily prompts)
2. Test with dummy data to see how it feels
3. Download the HTML using my browser
4. Convert to Angular using an LLM (worked surprisingly well)
5. Extend functionality using Cursor for additional features

The 5-prompt daily limit initially seemed restrictive, but it’s actually perfect for this workflow. It’s enough to establish your design language and core components, then you can take that foundation to more powerful tools for iteration.

The Technical Reality Check

Let’s be honest about the code quality: it felt like demo-level code designed to showcase design concepts rather than robust architecture. That said, the generated code is valid React code - features like dark mode switchers are actually implemented in both the code and the working demo, not just visual mockups. Whether it’s suitable for production is beyond my expertise, but for inspiration and rapid prototyping? It was exactly what I needed.

The React-to-Angular conversion worked better than expected for most components. The main pain point was gradients - the special Tailwind classes and CSS variables didn’t translate cleanly, requiring manual cleanup during the transformation.

Beyond the Hype: Real Results

Both projects are now live and running:

• My personal homepage successfully combines the Lovable.dev-inspired design with Cursor-implemented blogging functionality
• The Twitch proxy runs on my local server and looks genuinely professional

The StreamProxy app - a concrete example of the professional-looking results achievable with Lovable.dev’s AI-powered design foundation.

The biggest win wasn’t the code - it was dramatically shortening the design brainstorming phase. Instead of spending hours trying to make things “look nice,” I could focus on functionality while having a beautiful foundation to build upon.

Now I can make my weekend projects happen in pretty - not just functional.

Comparing Workflows: Before and After

Building from scratch (my usual approach):

• Start with functionality
• Spend way too much time trying to make it look decent
• End up with something that works but looks amateur
• Get frustrated with CSS and give up on polish

With Lovable.dev:

• Get a beautiful foundation in minutes
• Focus on extending functionality with tools I love (like Cursor)
• End up with professional-looking applications
• Actually want to show people my side projects

The difference is night and day, especially for someone who’s great at building functionality but struggles with visual design.

The Non-Designer’s Perspective

This is ultimately my view as someone who is not a design expert. I can’t compare Lovable.dev to professional design tools, but I can tell you how it enables developers who want beautiful applications without learning design principles.

For weekend side projects, this is transformative. My applications now look professionally designed.

When It Shines (And When It Doesn’t)

Perfect for:

• Rapid prototyping and design exploration
• Small private projects where you need inspiration
• Establishing a design language you can extend elsewhere
• Developers who want beautiful UIs without design expertise
• Getting stakeholder buy-in with immediately shareable demos

Less ideal for:

• When you need extensive customization of generated components
• Projects requiring specific design constraints

I can’t speak to:

• Whether it’s appropriate for complex, production-ready applications

The Gradient Gotcha: If you’re planning to convert to other frameworks, be prepared for styling headaches with complex Tailwind utilities.

My Verdict

I can’t say whether Lovable.dev will replace professional designers - I’m not an expert on the design landscape. What I can say is that it feels similar to what Cursor is for engineers: another tool that, when used correctly, gives you more options to express yourself and get work done more quickly.

The 5-prompt limit actually works in its favor, encouraging focused experimentation rather than endless iteration.

For developers like me who want to build beautiful side projects without becoming design experts, it’s genuinely game-changing. My weekend projects now look professional, and I can focus on the functionality I love building.

Would I use it again? Absolutely. For small private projects and design inspiration, it’s become an essential part of my toolkit.

The bottom line: If you’re a developer who’s ever looked at your functional-but-ugly side project and wished it looked as good as it worked, give Lovable.dev a try. Your weekend projects will thank you.

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Have you tried AI-powered design tools for your projects? I’d love to hear about your experiences - especially if you’ve found other tools that bridge the gap between developer functionality and designer aesthetics.