Chez Violette: Solo-Built Ordering System
From idea to production in less than 10 hours
UX Designer & Builder
Small Business
A family member wanted to sell crêpes in small weekly batches — a fixed batch, a tight window, managed entirely through WhatsApp. What started as a side project became a proof of concept for something bigger: a fully functional, deployed product built solo in less than 10 hours, no agency, no team, no months-long timeline. Using Claude Code as a thought partner, I shipped a bilingual ordering system with real-time availability, automated WhatsApp notifications, and a self-managing admin panel.
A Sketch, a Conversation, and 10 Hours
It started with a simple sketch and a clear idea of how the system should work, the ordering flow, the availability logic, the admin side. From there, the entire product was built inside VS Code using Claude Code through rapid iterations in conversation - describe a behavior, pick a direction, see it working immediately, then push it further.
This is the shift AI enables: any well-defined problem can now be solved fast, alone, and at production quality. A solo designer with the right tools can spec, build, debug, and deploy a real product in the time it used to take to write a brief. But the tool isn’t the differentiator, anyone can use Claude Code.
Where UX Expertise Still Matters
The question isn’t “can I build this?”, it’s “will it actually be good?” That’s where years of design practice become the differentiator.
Availability as a progress bar, not a number, an animated bar that turns red below 25% creates urgency without feeling manipulative.
Three distinct sold-out states, landing sold-out, selling out mid-submission, and a closed CTA are different emotional moments that needed different responses.
Price hides when ordering isn’t possible, no cognitive load for a number you can’t act on.
Error flows designed before happy paths, every failure state has a clear, intentional response.
Results & Impact
🚀
Shipped solo in ~10 hours, from first conversation to live URL.
🔄
Every order that used to require 3–4 manual touchpoints - confirm, remind, follow up - now handles itself end to end, cutting order management time by ~80%.
🛠️
Fully self-managed: stock, hours, and admin handled through a purpose-built panel; weekly revenue tracked automatically with production costs deducted, so profitability is visible at a glance.
📱
Bilingual and mobile-first, works natively in Spanish and English on any phone.