Informal Solutions
Built a crowdsourced archive of improvised human ingenuity, then taught myself just enough full-stack development to ship it.
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problem
Informal Solutions is a crowdsourced archive of improvised fixes and everyday human ingenuity. I've been running it on Instagram since 2015 but the project needed its own home with a proper submission flow.
solution
A live, functional archive at informalsolutions.ca with an infinite draggable grid, a working photo submission form, and a clean minimal design language consistent with the original Instagram presence.
Keeping Creative Control
I designed every screen in Figma before touching the code — the grid, the lightbox, the About page, the submission form, the Thank You page. Exporting to PNG and working with Claude to translate layouts into functional components meant design fidelity stayed high even as I learned a new medium.
The Tech Stack
React + TypeScript for the site framework
ThiingsGrid (open source, by Charlie Clark) for the infinite scroll grid
Vite to bundle and build
Git + GitHub for version control
Netlify for hosting and form submissions
A custom photo submission form
Responsive layouts for desktop and mobile
Problem-Solving on the Fly
ThiingsGrid needed real configuration work. Routing, form detection, image path logic, mobile responsiveness — each one a new problem to untangle. A weekend of stubborn iteration later, it shipped.
The Result
I learned how to use Claude Code at a Friends of Figma event hosted by Slalom and Informal Solutions was selected as one of three best projects. User submissions have since doubled and the Instagram following continues to grow.
year
2026
timeframe
10 Years +
tools
GitHub, Claude, React, TypeScript, Figma, VIte & Netlify.
category
Product Design
see also
