Problem
Toastmasters clubs meet so members can practice speaking and leadership. In ours, too much of that energy went into logistics. Guests hit awkward sign-up flows. Members forgot passwords and emailed officers to get on the agenda. Officers tracked attendance, guests, and open roles in spreadsheets that were wrong as soon as someone changed plans. Other club sites list the meeting — they don't make it easy for a first-time guest to say they're coming, or for a member to grab a role on their phone after work.
Approach
I mapped three people who use the club every week — a guest walking in for the first time, a member signing up for a role, and an officer keeping the meeting on track — then cut steps that didn't need to be there. I used AI as a build partner so I could design and ship without a dedicated engineering team. After launch, club feedback decided what came next: guest follow-up, quieter email, meeting-night tools, and recognition.
Guests sign up from the next meeting
Visitors see the upcoming meeting and Sign up as a guest. That creates a simple account with their email — no password to invent or forget. Their name shows on the meeting, and the VP of Membership gets an alert.
Same sign-in when they become a member
Officers convert a guest account; they keep signing in the same way — enter email, get a magic link, no password. As members they see who's coming, who's checked in, and who's signed up for which roles.
One click to take a role
On the published agenda, a member taps Sign up on an open role and their name is on it. First-timers get a short guide in context. Confirmations and reminders follow; people who already signed up stop getting we still need roles mail.
Officers run the week from one place
Admin starts with what needs attention — guests to follow up, open roles, upcoming meetings — instead of a pile of tables. Publish and run the meeting, check people in, and keep volunteer docs in the same app.
Outcome
In the first month after launch, guest signups went from about 1 per month to 6. Members could claim roles and sign in without password drama. Officers could see new guests as they arrived and run meeting night in the same app instead of rebuilding the process every week. Owning research, UX, UI, and a shipping product in one loop kept the work honest — AI lowered the cost of implementation; design decisions still set the direction.
Reflection
Side projects used to die at the prototype. This one stayed alive because the problem was personal, the build path finally matched a designer's pace, and the club felt the difference in the first month. AI didn't invent the product — it shortened the distance between knowing what it should feel like and the club using it next Monday. Toastmasters International reports more than 13,800 clubs worldwide; this club was the first place to prove the app works. Next is offering the same guest signup, role signup, and officer tools to clubs that still run meetings on spreadsheets and forgotten passwords.