Growth & Strategy
Personas
SaaS & Startup
Time to ROI
Short-term (< 3 months)
Last year, a potential client approached me with what seemed like a dream project: build a comprehensive two-sided marketplace platform with a substantial budget. Most consultants would have jumped at the opportunity. Instead, I said no.
Here's the thing about lovable prototypes that most founders get wrong: they think it's about building something people want to use when it's actually about building something people can't stop thinking about. The difference? One focuses on features, the other on emotional connection.
After turning down that lucrative project, I realized I had stumbled onto something crucial about prototype development that goes against everything we're taught about MVPs and no-code tools like AI-powered development.
Here's what you'll learn from my contrarian approach:
Why the "test if our idea works" mindset kills lovable prototypes before they start
The 24-hour rule that separates viable from lovable
How to build emotional connection before building features
The validation framework I use that has nothing to do with your product
Why manual processes create more lovable experiences than automation
This isn't about building faster or cheaper. It's about building something people actually fall in love with—and the surprising strategies that make it happen.
Industry Reality
What every startup founder believes about prototypes
Walk into any startup accelerator or browse through Product Hunt, and you'll hear the same advice repeated endlessly about building lovable prototypes:
Start with an MVP - Build the smallest possible version with core features
Use no-code tools - Platforms like Bubble, Webflow, or Framer to validate quickly
Get user feedback fast - Launch, measure, iterate based on usage data
Focus on functionality first - Worry about polish later, just get it working
Test market demand - Use your prototype to validate if people want your solution
This conventional wisdom exists because it's logical and feels safe. The lean startup methodology taught us to "fail fast" and "build-measure-learn." No-code tools made it possible to test ideas without technical skills. User feedback became the holy grail of product development.
The problem? This approach optimizes for viable, not lovable. When you start with "let's see if this works," you're already designing for mediocrity. You're building something that might work, not something people will obsess over.
Most prototypes built this way end up as feature-complete but emotionally flat experiences. They solve problems efficiently but don't create any memorable moments. Users might say "yeah, this is useful" but they'll never say "I have to tell my friends about this."
The real issue with this conventional approach is that it treats prototypes like mini-products instead of what they actually should be: relationship builders.
Consider me as your business complice.
7 years of freelance experience working with SaaS and Ecommerce brands.
The client I turned down had all the classic red flags. They came to me excited about no-code tools and AI development platforms, having heard you could "build anything quickly and cheaply." They weren't wrong about the technology, but their fundamental approach revealed a deeper problem.
"We want to test if our idea works," they told me. Right there, I knew we were in trouble.
They had no existing audience, no validated customer base, no proof of demand. Just an idea, enthusiasm, and a budget. Their plan was to build a functional two-sided marketplace, launch it, and see if people would use it. Classic "build it and they will come" thinking.
At first, I considered taking the project. The budget was substantial, the technical challenge was interesting, and it would have been one of my biggest projects to date. But something felt wrong about spending months building something to "test" a hypothesis that could be validated in days.
I started asking uncomfortable questions: "Who exactly do you plan to serve? How do you know they have this problem? Where are these people currently solving this problem? Have you talked to any of them?"
The answers revealed the real issue. They had fallen in love with the solution before understanding the problem. They wanted to build a platform because platforms feel exciting and scalable, not because they had identified a burning need in the market.
This is when I realized that most founders confuse "testing ideas" with "building products." They think a functional prototype will give them the answers they need, but really they're just postponing the hard work of customer discovery.
That's when I had my breakthrough about what makes prototypes actually lovable: they're not about testing your idea—they're about testing your understanding of your customers.
Here's my playbook
What I ended up doing and the results.
Instead of building their platform, I proposed something that shocked them: "If you're truly testing market demand, your MVP should take one day to build, not three months."
The 24-Hour Lovable Prototype Framework:
Day 1: Create the Promise, Not the Product
I told them to create a simple landing page explaining their value proposition. Not a demo, not a signup form, not even a waitlist. Just a clear description of what problem they would solve and for whom. The goal? See if anyone cares enough to reach out.
Week 1: Manual Matchmaking
Rather than building marketplace features, I suggested they start manually connecting supply and demand via email and WhatsApp. Every successful marketplace starts with founders doing things that don't scale. The lovable part isn't the platform—it's the perfect matches you make.
Week 2-4: Build Relationships, Not Features
Focus on becoming the trusted connector in your niche. Know your users' names, understand their specific pain points, anticipate their needs. This personal touch is what makes early adopters fall in love with your solution.
Month 2: Automate Only What's Proven
Only after proving demand manually should you consider building automation. And when you do, automate the boring parts while keeping the human elements that created the emotional connection.
The key insight: Your MVP should be your marketing and sales process, not your product. The lovable experience happens in how you solve their problem, not in the sophistication of your technology.
I learned this approach from observing successful two-sided marketplaces. Airbnb started with founders photographing apartments. Uber began with manually dispatched town cars. They built love through exceptional service first, elegant technology second.
When you focus on creating magical moments manually, you discover what actually matters to users. These insights become the foundation for a genuinely lovable product, not just a viable one.
Validation First
Skip the product—test your assumptions about customer behavior and demand through direct interaction
Human Touch
Automate the boring stuff but keep the high-touch elements that create emotional connection
Perfect Matches
Focus on making ideal connections rather than building perfect features
Relationship Building
Treat early users as co-creators rather than test subjects—invest in knowing them personally
The client initially thought I was crazy. "But we need to see if the technology works," they protested. I explained that technology is rarely the limiting factor in startup success—understanding customers is.
When they followed my approach, the results were revealing. Within the first week, they discovered their initial target market had different needs than expected. By manually facilitating matches, they learned which features actually mattered versus which ones sounded impressive.
More importantly, the users they connected manually became genuine advocates. They didn't just use the service—they referred friends and provided detailed feedback. That's the difference between viable and lovable: lovable prototypes create evangelists, not just users.
The manual approach also revealed operational challenges they never would have discovered in a functional prototype. They learned about timing, communication preferences, deal structures, and trust-building—insights that became competitive advantages when they eventually built technology.
By month two, they had paying customers and a waiting list. Not because they had the best platform, but because they provided the best service. The technology became a way to scale something already lovable, not a hypothesis to test.
What I've learned and the mistakes I've made.
Sharing so you don't make them.
The counterintuitive truth I learned: lovable prototypes are built backwards from most advice. Instead of starting with features, start with feelings.
Love comes from perfect problem-solution fit, not product-market fit - When you solve exactly the right problem in exactly the right way for exactly the right person, they fall in love instantly
Manual processes create better experiences than automation - Personal attention and customization beat efficiency in early stages
Distribution beats features every time - Being in the right place at the right time with a mediocre solution wins over being hard to find with a perfect solution
Constraints breed creativity - Having 24 hours forces you to focus on what really matters versus what's technically interesting
Stories travel faster than features - People share experiences they can tell others about, not features they can list
Early users want to feel special, not just served - Exclusive access and personal attention create emotional investment
The constraint isn't building—it's knowing what to build - In the age of no-code and AI, everyone can build anything. The competitive advantage is understanding customers deeply enough to build exactly the right thing
If I were to build another lovable prototype tomorrow, I'd spend 80% of my time talking to potential users and 20% building. Most people do the reverse and wonder why their perfectly functional prototypes generate lukewarm responses.
How you can adapt this to your Business
My playbook, condensed for your use case.
For your SaaS / Startup
For SaaS products specifically:
Start with manual onboarding calls instead of automated flows
Use live chat or phone for early customer support
Build features based on specific user requests, not assumptions
Focus on one use case perfectly rather than many use cases adequately
For your Ecommerce store
For e-commerce stores:
Curate products manually based on customer conversations
Offer personal shopping or consultation services
Send handwritten notes with early orders
Use WhatsApp or personal email for customer service