--- title: 7 Ways To Close The Gap Between AI‑Generated Apps and... description: A product designer at Expo, formerly of GitHub and Opendoor, argues that AI can now produce functional apps but still misses the qualities that make software... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/7-ways-to-close-the-gap-between-ai-generated-apps-and-great-product-design-pjkdqvwwq twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: 7 Ways To Close The Gap Between AI‑Generated Apps and Great Product Design | daily.dev og:description: A product designer at Expo, formerly of GitHub and Opendoor, argues that AI can now produce functional apps but still misses the qualities that make software... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/7-ways-to-close-the-gap-between-ai-generated-apps-and-great-product-design-pjkdqvwwq og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/pjKdqvWWq.png og:image:alt: 7 Ways To Close The Gap Between AI‑Generated Apps and Great Product Design og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # 7 Ways To Close The Gap Between AI‑Generated Apps and Great Product Design **[Dribbble](https://daily.dev/sources/dribbble)** · 6 min read · 0 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary A product designer at Expo, formerly of GitHub and Opendoor, argues that AI can now produce functional apps but still misses the qualities that make software feel considered. He outlines seven areas where human judgment remains essential: building a distinct brand system rather than accepting an LLM's improvised one, replacing generic default icons (he notes 90% of AI-built apps he's seen default to Lucide icons) and illustrations, using restrained rather than excessive animation, testing on real devices instead of relying solely on simulators, enforcing design system consistency even though systems don't guarantee good outcomes, planning migrations and involving users and partners before prompting, and designing for error states, empty states, and accessibility rather than only the happy path. He frames the modern designer as an 'Editor-in-Chief' who curates and directs AI outputs rather than starting from a blank canvas. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Questions this post answers ### why do so many AI-generated apps look the same visually Most AI-generated apps default to the same generic visual choices because LLMs pull from their preferred component and icon libraries without specific direction. An estimated 90% of AI-built apps observed use Lucide icons by default, since it's a solid, widely available library, but relying on it at scale makes interfaces look interchangeable rather than distinct. _Anyone comparing AI coding tools for UI output can track design critiques like this on daily.dev._ ### what design aspects do AI coding tools typically miss when building an app AI coding tools excel at ideal, happy-path user flows but frequently neglect the margins: error states, empty or zero-data screens, dynamic text wrapping, role-based views, accessibility and focus requirements, loading indicators, and container alignment. These edge cases require deliberate human review since LLMs optimize for the flow that was explicitly requested, not the messy states that occur in real usage. _Developers pairing AI tools with UX work can follow practical critiques like this on daily.dev._ ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [AI Can Build the Interface Now. 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