Building and shipping a personal project: Good Figs
Good Figs helps new parents navigate their little one’s transition to solid foods. Now available in the App Store!
Approach
I built Good Figs with Claude Code, turning a seed of an idea into a live app that addresses a real problem I kept hearing about among fellow new parents.
Product features
Home feed of meal ideas, appropriate for the baby’s age and taking into account allergens and dietary needs. Each meal idea comes with an easy-to-follow recipe and tips for preparation
Ability to save recipes and add ingredients to a grocery list
Feeding tracker to log foods that the baby has tried, along with their reactions to each
“Spotify Wrapped”-style summary of the baby’s solid food journey so far
Ability to take a photo of your fridge or manually enter ingredients to generate a recipe using what you have on hand
Clear, straightforward settings
When building the app, I researched what features parents wish existed in competitor apps – like the ability to log foods for twins, requiring multiple profiles – and then used Claude Code to build these differentiating features.
Design strategy
I took a holistic approach to designing the app, wanting the color scheme to feel fitting for its purpose with complementary colors used throughout. Navigation is simple and intuitive.
When researching competitors, I learned that many parents were put off by the alarmist tone used in our biggest competitor app’s content design strategy. For them, it made an already nerve-wracking experience feel even more stressful. So, I intentionally built an app that uses content design to celebrate the feeding journey and this milestone moment of starting solid foods. Throughout the app, the tone is inspiring, lighthearted and reassuring.
Technical ownership
As the sole builder of the app, I had to get familiar with the technical implications of building an app that uses AI.
With Claude’s help, I learned how to connect Good Figs to the APIs needed for it to work: Claude for recipe generation, ChatGPT for image generation, RevenueCat for subscription management, etc. I landed on these providers through trial-and-error, running multiple tests through various options on the market.
I also wanted to make sure my API keys were protected, so I fully configured the project through AI Proxy.
Finally, I navigated the App Store submission process, getting Good Figs ready to go in App Store Connect and registering as a developer. The app officially launched in May 2026!