Surface, Explore, Record: Episode 01 | Building Better Apps with AI Coding Assistants

Welcome to the first episode of Surface, Explore, Record! In this series, I walk you through a methodology for working with AI coding assistants that helps you uncover the hidden decisions AI makes for you, leading to more reliable, production-ready applications.

When you ask AI to build an app, it makes dozens of silent decisions about architecture, data storage, authentication, and more. The problem? You never see those decisions being made. This framework changes that dynamic by treating AI as an analyst on your team rather than a vending machine that just outputs code.

In This Episode:
In the idea stage of building a task management app, I demonstrate the three-step process:
• Surface the decisions: Ask AI to identify what business-level decisions need to be made before building
• Explore the options: For each decision, understand the strengths, weaknesses, and tradeoffs of different approaches
• Record the choices: Document what you decided and why, creating a foundation for everything that follows

I show you how to create decision records, modify them when AI misses something important (like accessibility and localization), and walk through making your first decision with full visibility into the options and assumptions.

What You’ll Learn:
• How to stay in control of your AI-assisted projects
• Why surfacing decisions before building saves time later
• How to create and organize decision records
• The importance of understanding AI’s assumptions and recommendations

Resources:
• Read the full methodology article: https://alanknox.com/surface-explore-record-a-three-step-framework-for-ai-assisted-development/
• GitHub repo with prompts and decision records: https://github.com/PlanningRoom/TaskFlow

Questions or suggestions? Drop them in the comments!

Видео Surface, Explore, Record: Episode 01 | Building Better Apps with AI Coding Assistants канала Alan Knox (Alan on AI)