IdeaWell

Project ideas from Hacker News discussions.

Show HN: I spent 4 years building a UI design tool with only the features I use

Original Article

Hacker News Discussion

📝 Discussion Summary (Click to expand)

Three dominant themes in the discussion

# Theme Key points & representative quotes
1 Technical performance & architecture “The main difference lies in the rendering engine. Penpot relies on an SVG engine, which limits performance as project complexity grows.” – vecti
“Vecti is built on canvas and WebAssembly (the same architecture used by Figma). This gives us raw performance advantages.” – vecti
“On the frontend: typescript, react, webgl with an emscripten/c++/wasm engine.” – vecti
2 Business model & market positioning “Why would I want to use this over Figma? The sidepanels and floating toolbar are ripped directly from Figma.” – TonyStr
“It’s a commercial product trying to get a foothold (as opposed to a hobby project for the sake of learning).” – TonyStr
“The only distinguishing selling point is that it has less features than Figma.” – TonyStr
3 User experience & feature minimalism “I keep finding myself using a small amount of the features while the rest just mostly got in the way.” – crazygringo
“Simple tasks now require navigating through multiple menus.” – fastThinking
“The no‑plugin support thing actually makes sense to me.” – fastThinking

These three threads—performance, business strategy, and the debate over how many features a design tool should ship—capture the bulk of the conversation.

🚀 Project Ideas

DesignLite

Summary

  • A lightweight, offline‑first web design tool that focuses on the core 20 % of features designers actually use: vector editing, grouping, auto‑layout, components, simple prototyping, and code export (React, Flutter, SwiftUI).
  • Solves performance issues of SVG‑based tools, eliminates plugin bloat, and offers self‑hosted, SSO‑enabled deployments for teams.

Details

Key Value
Target Audience Freelance designers, small studios, and teams needing a fast, reliable design tool without the overhead of Figma or Penpot.
Core Feature Canvas‑based design editor with grouping, auto‑layout, component system, and instant code export, all running offline in the browser.
Tech Stack TypeScript + React, WebGL/Canvas renderer, Rust/WASM for performance, Node.js + PostgreSQL backend, OAuth2 + SAML for SSO, Docker for self‑hosting.
Difficulty Medium
Monetization Revenue‑ready: tiered subscription (free tier, $12/month per seat, enterprise SSO add‑on).

Notes

  • Users complained about “performance” and “export to React/Flutter/SwiftUI” (e.g., “Surely it is an obvious next step to offer export to e.g. React, React Native, SwiftUI…?”).
  • “I want a tool that can be self‑hosted” and “I want SSO support for multiple users” are recurring pain points.
  • The offline‑first approach addresses “I want to save designs to files, close to other files of the project” and “I want to open each file in its own window”.
  • The minimal feature set keeps the UI uncluttered, satisfying the “20 % feature” argument and the desire for a “clean, fast canvas without the friction” (fastThinking).

CodeGen Studio

Summary

  • An AI‑powered design‑to‑code service that ingests design files from Figma, Penpot, or DesignLite and outputs ready‑to‑use code snippets, component libraries, and landing‑page templates in React, Flutter, SwiftUI, and HTML/CSS.
  • Provides a sandbox environment for designers to experiment without signing up, and an API for CI/CD pipelines.

Details

Key Value
Target Audience Designers who need to hand off work to developers, and developers who want instant, accurate code from design files.
Core Feature AI model that parses design layers, auto‑generates responsive code, and offers a web sandbox for quick previews.
Tech Stack Python + FastAPI, OpenAI/Claude fine‑tuned model, Docker, PostgreSQL, WebSocket for live preview, React front‑end.
Difficulty High
Monetization Revenue‑ready: pay‑per‑render ($0.02 per component) or monthly plan ($49/month for unlimited renders + API access).

Notes

  • “I want a template I can choose from and just start filling it in” (jonnycoder) and “I want to export to code” (mft_) highlight the need for design‑to‑code automation.
  • The sandbox addresses “Is there a way to try it without signing up for an account?” (phmagic).
  • By integrating with existing tools, it reduces the friction of “handing over designs to a programmer who implements it in HTML/React/Flutter…”.
  • The AI component can learn from user feedback, aligning with the community’s desire for “AI‑powered code generation” and “quick prototyping”.

Modular Design Suite

Summary

  • A collection of small, opinionated design tools—Wireframe, Icon, UI Component Library, Animation, Prototyping—each packaged as a standalone app or a plug‑in for a shared file format.
  • Allows designers to pick exactly the 20 % of features they need, avoiding bloat while still enabling collaboration through a common exchange format.

Details

Key Value
Target Audience Designers who prefer focused tools, teams that need to mix and match workflows, and developers who want a lightweight UI editor.
Core Feature Modular toolset with a unified JSON file format, plug‑in API, and a web hub for sharing and composing modules.
Tech Stack Electron + React for desktop apps, WebAssembly for performance, Node.js backend for the hub, GraphQL API, Git‑based versioning for files.
Difficulty Medium
Monetization Hobby (open‑source core) + Revenue‑ready: marketplace commissions (5 % on paid modules) and premium hub subscription ($5/month).

Notes

  • The “20 % feature” debate is central: “Every new feature of Figma feels like an attempt to monopolize the entire market” (fastThinking) and “I want a tool that can be used by teams” (raw_anon_1111).
  • Group isolation, auto‑layout, and component support can be offered in dedicated modules, satisfying “I want group isolation” (pier25) and “I want auto‑layout” (karhuton).
  • The shared file format ensures interoperability, addressing concerns about “export to Figma” and “import/export between tools”.
  • The marketplace model encourages community contributions, aligning with the HN culture of open‑source and modularity.

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