For the past six years now, I’ve worked behind the scenes at Wix, helping to create the tools that millions of people use every day. Ironically, though, the idea of creating a website by myself is still overwhelming.
My background is in product management, after all, not in graphic design. I spend my time leading a team of developers who work on technical projects, specifically around Wix Forms.
But one day, my mom asked me to build a website for her art. (Typical mom behavior—full of confidence that her child can do anything.) She thought, “You work at Wix, so you must be amazing at building websites.”
Of course, I couldn’t say no. So, I set out to build her a site—and let me tell you, it was quite an experience. I leaned on Wix’s AI tools to get the job done, and the final result was clean and elegant, just as I’d envisioned. Through this process, I got to see my team’s hard work in action and experience the true power of AI first hand.
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Pre-building: the prep work and what I had to work with
My mom had sent me the pictures in advance, but not all of them were in the best condition. Some weren’t properly cropped. Others had distracting backgrounds.
My initial thought was, “This is going to take forever to edit.” But within the Wix platform, I found our tool for photo editing, which was recently enhanced with AI. I simply asked the AI to remove the backgrounds—and within seconds, all the pictures were perfectly edited.
I had done my other homework beforehand, too. I gathered pictures of my mom’s art and drafted the text I planned to include on the site. My experience as a product person paid off in this sense; I felt prepared and everything went smoothly.
Building the website: the process from start to finish
One common misconception about building websites is that it’s a time-consuming process. But it’s 2024, and the world has changed. What used to take me several days to complete can now be done in an hour (or less) with AI.
Related reading: How long does it take to build a website?
When it came to my mom’s website, I started working at 8:00 p.m., and by 8:45 p.m., the site was ready to go. It helped to have Wix knowledge already—I knew my way around the platform—but thanks to AI, I didn’t have to spend days trying to come up with multiple options and designs on my own either.
Here’s what my process looked like:
8:00 p.m.: I opened up the Wix AI website builder and told the AI my requirements. I wanted a simple website with neutral colors that could showcase my mom’s art. I also wanted a web page that could share my mom’s personal history.
8:08 p.m.: Hit “create site.” (At this point, I was thankful that I didn’t need to spend hours trying to pick the right colors, typography and other design details.)
8:09 p.m.: The AI website builder presented me with a fully designed website. I asked it to create several more options for me, and I played around with each in the Wix Editor before deciding on the one I liked best.
8:12 p.m.: I picked my favorite design, which was minimalistic and straightforward.
8:13 p.m.: Started uploading and enhancing the images my mom wanted to include on her site. Since a lot of the photos were taken with a phone, the quality wasn’t great. But Wix’s AI image tools made it easy to correct the alignment, size and quality of all the photos.
8:33 p.m.: Added Wix Multilingual, which auto-translated the site from Spanish to English. I spent some time proofreading the translated copy on each page.
8:45 p.m.: Published the site, together with a new domain and Google connection.
By 8:45, my mom was already sharing the final website with her friends. All I had to do was set her up with some guidelines on how to add new text and pictures on her own. After that, my job was done.
Key Wix features that I used
If you’re curious about the Wix website features I used, here’s a quick list of the tools that made it possible for me to create a visually appealing, fully functional site in under one hour.
AI website builder: Asked me about my website goals and did all the heavy-lifting by designing the site and providing several options for me to choose from
Wix Editor: Provided a space where I could customize any page or element of the website and upload content
Photo editor: Gave me a range of AI-powered photo editing tools to choose from that let me enhance the quality of my mom’s art images
Multilingual translation: Automatically translated the entire site so it could be accessed by both Spanish- and English-speaking audiences
Forms: Gives visitors a way to reach out to my mom with any inquiries (I couldn’t, of course, pass up the opportunity to add my team’s product to the site)
Analytics: Probably my mom’s favorite feature, which lets her see how many visitors have been or are on her site in real time
Top takeaways
One of the most thrilling aspects of this process was that I was using a product that I had a hand in developing. This project reinforced something I already knew: my work is meaningful. Seeing my mom proudly sharing her new art website was incredibly fulfilling. I went to bed that night with a renewed sense of pride in myself and my team.
I also walked away with a few other reflections that I thought might worth sharing.
01. AI is changing how we work
AI won’t do all the work for you (you still need to monitor it and be held responsible for the final results), but it can speed it up and help you overcome challenges that may have been impossible to do on your own. In my situation, AI helped me break through the fear of building a website from scratch. I could design an attractive website for my mom without having any prior design experience.
02. Preparation is important
Even though I used AI, preparation played a big role in making sure that this project went smoothly. Knowing what I needed in advance—such as the types of pictures, text and domain setup that I needed—allowed me to efficiently manage my time and resources. Even if you’re working on a relatively simple site, it helps to gather all of your materials first and have a clear idea of what you want your website to achieve.
Read also: How to plan a website
03. You must put yourself in your customers’ shoes
Being able to use the product that I help build and improve on a daily in a real-world scenario was priceless. It offered a perspective that no amount of theoretical testing could provide. I was able to catch minor pain points, understand the user experience better and gather other helpful insights. This is a reminder to all product and brand owners of the importance of dogfooding—an industry term for using your own products to understand them. This also aligns with the principle of continuous improvement, which is necessary for any successful product development cycle.
Related reading: What makes a good website?
My final takeaway is this: What my mom believed turned out to be true. I could make her a visually appealing website. I just needed the right tools and motivation, which were right in front of me all along.