The Ultimate Playbook for Building Beautiful, Converting Apps with Claude Code
Most people who try AI for building apps end up disappointed. They type something like “make me a premium website” into Claude Code, wait a few seconds, and then stare at a lifeless, cookie-cutter site that looks like it came out of a 2003 template pack. The problem isn’t Claude. The problem is how you use it.
Claude Code is the most powerful coding agent we have right now, but it is only as good as the workflow you give it. If you treat it like a vending machine, you get junk. If you treat it like a partner in a proper process, you get apps that look professional, feel polished, and most importantly, actually convert.
In this guide I’ll walk you through everything I’ve learned about building with Claude Code in a way that produces results. We’ll talk about iteration, design canvases, animations, component libraries, cloning strategies, and even the things most people forget like accessibility, performance, and analytics. By the end, you’ll see how to move from AI-generated slop to products that could easily pass as studio-built.
Why iteration matters more than inspiration
The biggest mistake people make is expecting magic in one shot. They throw a vague prompt at Claude, and when the output looks bad, they assume AI isn’t ready. The reality is that Claude thrives on repetition. It never gets tired, never complains, and can run as many design cycles as you need until something feels right.
That’s why the real secret is iteration. You start broad, refine step by step, and guide Claude toward the final product. And here’s a practical detail that most people miss: don’t begin with heavy frameworks like React or Next.js. In the early stages you should work with simple HTML and CSS. They are light, easy to adjust, and forgiving when you’re exploring ideas. Once the design language is set, then you can migrate into your framework of choice.
SuperDesign.dev: the missing design playground
Iteration works best when you can actually see what’s happening in real time. That’s where SuperDesign.dev comes in. It’s an extension for VS Code or Cursor that gives you an interactive design canvas. Instead of waiting for code to compile or flipping between files, you watch your agent create and adjust your UI directly on the canvas. You can even switch between desktop, tablet, and mobile views to see how the design responds across devices.
The real magic starts when you initialize SuperDesign in your project. This creates a claude.md file in your root directory. Think of this file as Claude’s job description. It tells Claude it is now acting as a senior front-end engineer, outlines the fonts, colors, and styling rules to follow, and sets the boundaries for how it should behave. With this context, Claude no longer guesses. It designs with discipline.
The iterative workflow step by step
Here’s how you take an idea and turn it into a polished UI. You begin with layouts. Ask Claude to sketch out several different options for the same screen. SuperDesign even displays these as ASCII wireframes right in the terminal so you can make decisions before a single line of CSS is written. For example, if you are building a rideshare home screen, Claude might try one version with the search bar at the top, another with a split screen between map and actions, and a third with a bottom navigation. You pick whichever feels closest to your vision.
Once the layout is locked, you move into themes. This is where style comes in. You can ask Claude to try five different approaches to the same structure. Maybe one has a glassy futuristic look, another uses bold neon, another feels minimal and professional. If you already have a color palette, you can provide it. I like using Coolors.co to generate palettes quickly. And if Claude applies your colors poorly, don’t settle. Ask it to try again, and keep iterating until the palette feels balanced.
With a theme in place, you enter refinement. This is the stage where the details matter. Maybe the button animation only triggers on hover, but you want a click animation that feels mechanical. Maybe the spacing around your cards feels too tight. Give Claude precise, surgical feedback and let it adjust. Because you are iterating, you don’t have to get everything perfect at once. You simply move closer with each round.
When one page finally looks and feels the way you want, expand the design language to the rest of the app. Ask Claude to reuse the styles and interactions on other pages like onboarding, dashboards, or booking flows. This creates consistency, which is what makes an app feel professionally crafted. And once the look is set across your screens, that’s the time to migrate into a full framework. At this point, you are scaling, not experimenting.
Adding delight with animations
A clean layout is the starting point. What makes users feel at home are the little interactions. Micro-animations turn a functional app into a delightful one.
I’ve had great results with Animattopi, a site that curates simple but high-impact HTML and CSS animations. You can copy snippets straight into your project and let Claude apply them where they belong. A button that gives a subtle bounce when clicked, an input field that glows softly when active, a card that tilts as you hover — these details make your interface feel alive.
From a growth perspective, that polish matters. When a product feels smooth, people trust it more. Trust leads to sign-ups. Sign-ups lead to conversion.
Scaling with ShadCN and MCP servers
Once your prototype feels right, it’s time to think about scale. Rebuilding every button, modal, and dropdown from scratch is a waste of time. This is where ShadCN UI shines. It is a component library that already looks beautiful, and companies like Supabase rely on it.
The challenge with AI is that if you simply tell Claude “use ShadCN,” it often misapplies the components. To solve this, you can run the ShadCN MCP server inside Claude Code. This loads the full context of all components into Claude’s brain. Now when it builds, it knows exactly how each component works and how to structure them correctly.
The best workflow is to start by asking Claude to generate an implementation plan using ShadCN. This produces a structured map of which components to use and where. Once you approve the plan, you run the command again to implement. The result is a polished front end that is organized, scalable, and even supports dark mode correctly.
If you want your own unique style, you can use TweakCN, a site that generates custom ShadCN themes. Copy the CSS it gives you, pass it to Claude, and your app instantly adopts the new design language.
Cloning what already works
Sometimes you don’t need to invent. You just need to move fast. In those cases, cloning tools save the day.
Firecrawl MCP lets you crawl any live site, fetch its metadata, images, and animations, and then have Claude recreate it inside your project. It’s not always pixel-perfect, but it gets you a solid structural clone you can then style to your brand.
If your starting point is a Figma file instead of a live site, the Figma MCP server does the same thing with design metadata. Copy a selection link from Figma, send it to Claude, and it will generate code that matches the file exactly.
These workflows are shortcuts. They get you to a working baseline fast so you can spend your energy on custom branding and user experience.
The advanced layers most people forget
Most tutorials stop at “look, it works.” But real apps need more.
Responsiveness matters. Always preview your designs on different device sizes inside SuperDesign. Claude can generate mobile-first Tailwind classes for you if you ask.
Accessibility matters. Premium apps are inclusive apps. Ask Claude to check your project against WCAG standards, add ARIA labels, and provide alt text for images.
Performance matters. Slow sites don’t convert. Claude can help you lazy-load images, compress CSS, and integrate Next.js image optimization.
And analytics matter. Don’t wait until launch to add tracking. Define your key events — sign-up, checkout, drop-off points — and have Claude integrate GA4 or Segment directly into the buttons and flows. That way you know which parts of your design are actually driving results.
Why this approach wins
From a growth marketer’s point of view, this workflow is a cheat code. Instead of spending weeks fighting CSS or chasing pixel perfection, you channel that energy into conversion flows, copy testing, and user retention. The polish is still there, but you didn’t have to burn months of dev time to get it.
Apps that feel premium build trust. Apps that delight users reduce churn. Apps that are consistent and fast are the ones people recommend. Claude Code, when used properly, gives you all of that without the bloat of a big product team.
Putting it all together
The recipe is simple but powerful. Use SuperDesign to guide Claude through iterative design. Start with layouts, then themes, then refinements. Add micro-animations to bring the UI to life. Scale with ShadCN components supported by MCP servers. Clone when you need speed using Firecrawl or Figma MCP. And don’t forget the advanced layers that make an app truly production-ready: responsiveness, accessibility, performance, and analytics.
Follow this playbook and you won’t just generate sites that look nice on a screenshot. You’ll create applications that feel professional, scale gracefully, and convert like crazy
