Some months back, I started getting fascinated by Gen AI applications like Gamma. I kept wondering how people actually build SaaS tools like that, and I wanted to understand the workings behind them for myself. So I decided to experiment by creating my own generative AI application.
What I Did
The app is basically an AI content-to-image generator. For now, I call it ImagenArt, although that is just a working name and I may change it later.
I have been using it almost daily for the past few months because I need images for the daily blog posts I do for my church. Before this, I used stock image libraries or prompted ChatGPT and Gemini until I got something that felt right. That process was slow. I first had to figure out what kind of image I wanted, then keep nudging the AI, and there were usually several steps before I got something usable.
ImagenArt takes a piece of written prose—anything from a few lines to a full article or even a rough collection of thoughts—understands what it is about, generates three image options, and suggests which one it thinks best fits the article. I also baked in some styling so the output has a more consistent feel.
Even though ChatGPT and Gemini have improved a lot since I started this project, and can now get pretty close to what I need, my app has still been saving me time every day. I no longer have to dig through stock libraries, prompt endlessly, or deal with removing watermarks from generated images.
Challenges
The image generation itself became smoother, but the overall workflow still had friction. After generating an image in my app, I still had to download it to my computer, upload it into the WordPress media library, open the right post, attach the image, save it, and go through a few more clicks before I was done.
I had been thinking for a while about building a WordPress plugin to solve exactly that pain point, but other projects kept getting in the way. Today I decided to just get it over and done with. I fired up my IDE, worked with my agents, and before too long I had a plugin running in my local environment.
The plugin changes the workflow completely. The image can be generated inside WordPress, saved directly into the media library, and attached to the post automatically. No downloading, re-uploading, or extra clicking around.
What I Learned
I was actually a bit disappointed after building the original image generation app. There are already so many similar tools in the market, and people can just use ChatGPT, Gemini, or more powerful image platforms. I started wondering whether my little experiment would end up as something I simply threw away.
But after building the WordPress plugin and testing the full workflow, I got excited about it again. I could immediately see myself using it because it solves a very specific problem in the way I already work.
That is probably my biggest takeaway from Day 3: it is all about the workflows. You can have the best feature or the most impressive piece of software, but if the workflow around it is full of friction, users still have to work too hard. The more friction you remove, the smoother and more useful the whole experience becomes.
Sometimes the real value is not in creating a completely new capability. It is in making an existing task much easier to complete.
What Comes Next
The plugin is still being tested locally, but I am happy with where it is heading. The next step is to keep refining it and see how well it holds up in my actual day-to-day workflow. For now, I am just glad that an experiment I was close to dismissing has turned into something I can genuinely see myself using.