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Building Complicated Ideas

A systematic approach to breaking down complex projects into manageable pieces you can build with AI.

Published: January 15, 2025

Building Complicated Ideas

Building complex projects with AI requires a systematic approach. This guide shows you how to break down big ideas into manageable pieces that you can tackle confidently.

The Breakdown Process

Step 1: Define the Core Problem

Start with a clear statement of what you're building and why.

Example: "I want to build a personal website that helps people learn AI concepts through voting on analogies and tracking their confidence over time."

Step 2: Identify Major Components

Break your idea into 3-5 major pieces.

For our example:

  1. User authentication system
  2. Content management (markdown files)
  3. Interactive features (voting, surveys)
  4. Page layouts and navigation
  5. Database for user data

Step 3: Prioritize by Dependency

Some components must be built before others.

Build order:

  1. Database schema (foundation)
  2. Authentication (needed for interactive features)
  3. Page layouts (structure)
  4. Content system (displays information)
  5. Interactive features (builds on everything)

Working with AI on Complex Projects

The Layer Approach

Build your project in layers, from foundation to features:

Layer 1: Data & Authentication

  • Set up database
  • Create user accounts
  • Basic session management

Layer 2: Structure

  • Page routing
  • Navigation
  • Layout components

Layer 3: Content

  • Content parsing
  • Display logic
  • Markdown rendering

Layer 4: Interactivity

  • Voting system
  • Surveys
  • Forms

Prompting for Complex Features

When asking AI to help with complex components:

  1. Provide context: "I'm building X with Y technology"
  2. State requirements: "Users should be able to..."
  3. Mention constraints: "Must work with Next.js App Router"
  4. Ask for structure: "Show me the file structure first"

Example prompt:

I'm building a voting system for my Next.js website where
authenticated users can vote on their favorite analogy for
AI concepts. Each concept has 3 analogies, and users can
only vote once per concept. I'm using Vercel Postgres for
the database.

Can you help me create:
1. The database schema for votes
2. An API route for casting votes
3. A React component for the voting UI

Managing Complexity

Keep a Decision Log

Document why you made key choices:

  • Why this database vs that one?
  • Why this auth approach?
  • What tradeoffs did you accept?

This helps when you need to revisit decisions later.

Build Vertical Slices

Instead of building all pages then all API routes, build one complete feature at a time:

Vertical slice: Voting feature

  • Database table
  • API route
  • UI component
  • Testing

Horizontal slice: All databases ❌

  • User table
  • Votes table
  • Survey table
  • Newsletter table

Vertical slices let you test and deploy features incrementally.

Use AI for Different Levels

  • High-level planning: "What's the best way to structure a multi-tenant application?"
  • Implementation: "Write the API route for user registration"
  • Debugging: "This error occurs when... how do I fix it?"
  • Learning: "Explain how JWT tokens work in authentication"

Handling Roadblocks

When You're Stuck

  1. Simplify: Can you solve a smaller version of the problem?
  2. Research: What have others done?
  3. Ask differently: Rephrase your prompt to AI
  4. Break it down more: Maybe the piece is still too big

When AI Gives Wrong Answers

AI will occasionally generate code that doesn't work:

  1. Test everything immediately
  2. Ask AI to explain the code it generated
  3. Provide error messages back to AI for fixes
  4. Search docs when AI seems confused about a library

Example: Building the Survey Feature

Let's walk through building a survey system:

1. Plan the Schema

Survey responses need:
- User ID (who took it)
- 6 confidence ratings (1-5)
- Timestamp (when taken)

2. Build the Database Layer

Prompt: "Create a PostgreSQL table for survey responses with these fields..."

3. Create the API Route

Prompt: "Build a Next.js API route that accepts survey data and saves it to the database..."

4. Build the UI

Prompt: "Create a React component with 6 Likert scale questions..."

5. Test & Iterate

  • Submit a survey
  • Check database
  • Handle errors
  • Improve UX

Each step builds on the last, and you can test as you go.

Tips for Success

  1. Start with the simplest version - Add complexity later
  2. Deploy early - Real usage teaches you what matters
  3. Keep features independent - One broken feature shouldn't break everything
  4. Document as you build - Future you will thank you
  5. Don't optimize prematurely - Make it work, then make it fast

When to Step Back

Sometimes you need to restart part of your project. That's normal.

Signs you should refactor:

  • Code is becoming unmaintainable
  • Every change breaks something else
  • You don't understand your own code
  • Performance is unacceptable

Don't be afraid to rebuild a component better the second time.

The Big Picture

Building complicated ideas with AI is about:

  • Breaking problems into pieces you can tackle
  • Building incrementally so you can test and learn
  • Using AI strategically for different types of help
  • Staying focused on solving the core problem

Remember: Complex projects are just many simple pieces working together. Build one piece at a time, and before you know it, you'll have built something impressive.