AI-Assisted Coding for Designers E2: How Web Apps Work

Hosted by Junaid Dodhia and Xinran Ma

84 students

What you'll learn

The Big Picture

Understand how the frontend, backend, database, and APIs connect—and why that matters when building anything on web.

Mental Models for Modern Apps

Learn the key moving parts behind tools like Next.js, Supabase, and Stripe — without getting overwhelmed by code.

A Designer’s Guide to Architecture

See how design decisions shape performance, structure, user experience—so you can build and collaborate with confidence.

Why this topic matters

Get a clear, high-level understanding of how modern web apps work—so your design choices get sharper and dev handoffs smoother. Whether you're sketching a feature or mapping a flow, knowing how the parts connect helps you ask better questions and avoid common pitfalls. This is Episode 2 of the series: AI-Assisted Coding for Designers.

You'll learn from

Junaid Dodhia

Software Engineer | Designer | Coding Instructor

Junaid is an engineer, designer, and coding instructor working at the intersection of design, code, and human behavior. He was an early engineer at YC-backed startups and holds a Master’s in Information Systems from Carnegie Mellon University.


He teaches coding at Tutor Corps and has taught K–12 students at Coding Minds Academy, where he led introductory coding classes and contributed to curriculum design and mentorship. He's passionate about helping designers build technical confidence and bring their ideas to life.


Junaid builds with a production-ready stack and AI-powered code editors, blending speed with systems thinking and human-centered design. His work focuses on shaping tools that shape how we learn, create, and collaborate.


Connect with Junaid on LinkedIn


Xinran Ma

Founder of Design with AI | AI Course Instructor | 3x Author

Xinran Ma is the founder of Design with AI (designwithai.co), speaker, and award-winning designer.


Design with AI is one of the fastest-growing AI communities (over 2,000 new members every month), with subscribers from companies like Google, Amazon, IBM, and McKinsey.


He is also the author of multiple Amazon #1 New Release books in UX and has been awarded ADPList's Top 1% Mentor in Design 5 times.


He regularly delivers lectures and conducts AI workshops at places such as Microsoft, Columbia Business School, UXPA, University of Connecticut, and Pratt Institute. His work has been featured in leading publications, including Designboom, UX Collective, ArchDaily, American Illustration, Society of Illustrators, 3x3 Magazine, and Medium.


Xinran teaches the course AI for Product Designers on Maven.


Connect with Xinran on LinkedIn

Previously partnered with

Carnegie Mellon University
Columbia University
Pratt Institute
UConn
Amazon
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