Ovuoba: How AI, Visual Development Tools Can Simplify Tech Learning for Students, ,
As technology continues to reshape education and digital skills development, Sampson Ovuoba, a software engineer and founder of Windframe, explained in this interview with Funmi Ogundare how visual and AI-assisted development tools can help students learn UI/UX design and front-end development more easily by reducing the complexity of coding. He also highlighted how Windframe was built to simplify product creation, make tech more accessible to learners from diverse backgrounds, and help bridge the digital skills gap, particularly in developing countries. Excerpts:
How did your background influence your approach to building Windframe?
I’ve always been more of a builder in the traditional sense. Most of my background was in engineering, building products, and spending a lot of time inside codebases. But one thing that kept frustrating me was how slow UI work could feel sometimes, especially when you already knew what you wanted to build in your head. A lot of tools at the time either gave you beautiful designs with poor code output or good code with terrible editing experiences. I kept feeling like there had to be a middle ground where developers could visually build things without losing control of the actual code. That thinking heavily shaped Windframe. I approached it less like a design tool and more like an engineering tool for UI building. Even today, a big part of the product philosophy is reducing friction between idea and working interface.
You built Windframe before AI became mainstream. What challenges did that present?
Honestly, one of the biggest challenges was that people didn’t immediately understand the vision.
Back then, visual development tools for developers were still looked at with a bit of scepticism. A lot of developers associated visual builders with bloated code, limited flexibility or ‘no-code’ platforms that serious engineers wouldn’t touch. So there was this constant balancing act of proving that you could have a visual workflow and still produce clean, production-ready code. Another challenge was that many of the things AI now makes easier had to be built manually. Things like component generation, layout suggestions, etc., all required a lot more handcrafted logic and engineering work. But in hindsight, building before the AI wave ended up being a good idea. The core product had to stand on its own without relying entirely on AI prompts. That foundation is still useful now.
At what point did you decide to integrate AI into Windframe?
It happened pretty naturally. Once large language models started getting better at generating structured output and code, it became obvious that AI could massively reduce the amount of repetitive UI work developers do. But I never wanted AI to become the entire product. A lot of tools started becoming basically prompt boxes. You type something, get a result, and if the result is wrong, you’re stuck prompting again and again. I didn’t think that was enough.
So the decision was really: how do we combine AI generation with an actual editing environment where developers still feel in control? That’s why Windframe evolved into this mix of AI generation plus visual editing. AI helps you get started quickly, but the visual editor helps you refine and ship things properly instead of endlessly re-prompting.
How can tools like Windframe change the way students learn UI/UX design and front-end development?
I think one of the biggest barriers for students is that modern frontend development can feel overwhelming at first. You’re learning HTML, CSS, JavaScript, frameworks, accessibility, and design principles, all at once. Visual development tools can shorten that feedback loop. Instead of spending three hours debugging why a div is misplaced, students can focus more on understanding layout, spacing, hierarchy, typography, and how interfaces actually work. It also helps make learning more interactive. When students can visually tweak something and instantly see the underlying code change, they start connecting the visual side with the engineering side much faster. That bridge is really important.
Do you think reducing heavy coding requirements makes tech more accessible to students?
To an extent, yes. I don’t think coding disappears. I still think understanding logic, systems thinking, and problem-solving matters a lot. But I do think we sometimes gatekeep technology unnecessarily by making the entry point harder than it needs to be.
There are a lot of incredibly creative people who get discouraged before they even get to the fun part because the initial learning curve feels too steep. Reducing some of the repetitive or low-level complexity gives more people room to experiment, build confidence, and stay curious long enough to improve.
The interesting thing is that many people who start with visual tools eventually become better technical builders anyway because they gain confidence through creating things.
Can platforms like Windframe help students without strong programming backgrounds enter the tech industry?
Definitely! Not everyone enters tech through Computer Science. Some people come from art, business, architecture, psychology, or completely unrelated backgrounds. Windframe can help lower the intimidation factor. Someone who has an eye for design or product thinking can start building interfaces much earlier without feeling blocked by syntax or framework complexity. And once people start building real things, learning tends to accelerate naturally because the motivation becomes practical instead of theoretical. I’ve seen people learn faster simply because they were excited about bringing an idea to life.
How can schools integrate visual development tools into their curriculum?
I think schools should treat them as complements to traditional learning, not replacements. For example, students could use visual tools in introductory courses to understand layout systems, responsive design, component thinking, and user experience principles before diving deeper into advanced frontend engineering. You could also have project-based learning where students prototype real applications visually first, then progressively learn how the underlying code works. That mirrors how products are actually built in the real world anyway. Teams iterate visually, collaborate, refine, and then optimise technically. The goal shouldn’t just be teaching syntax. It should be teaching students how to think about building useful products.
Do you see this approach helping to bridge the digital skills gap among students in developing countries?
I really do. One thing people underestimate is how much access affects confidence. In many developing countries like ours, students already face infrastructure issues, fewer mentors, limited hardware, inconsistent internet and fewer opportunities to experiment.
If the tooling itself also has a massive learning barrier, it compounds the problem. Visual and AI-assisted development tools like Windframe can help reduce that gap by making creation feel more approachable earlier on. Someone with just a laptop and curiosity can start building things that previously might have taken months or years to learn. I think that matters a lot. Especially because talent is everywhere, but access and opportunity are not always evenly distributed. Tools that reduce friction can help more people participate in the global tech ecosystem instead of feeling locked out of it.
, Education – THISDAYLIVE, May 13, 2026, 2:12 am
