Case study · Product design
DbJ Deck Generator.
A browser tool that turns static card art into an interactive digital deck.
- Role
- Product definition, UX, visual design, testing, launch
- Built with
- Claude Code, HTML, CSS, JavaScript
- Timeline
- Core build in two weekends
- Status
- Live, sold on Etsy
The point
Let card creators sell a digital deck that works like a real one, with no technical setup for them or their buyers.
Problem
I found the gap while looking at oracle card art as an Etsy product. Making the art was straightforward. Delivering it digitally was not.
Most digital decks were sold as PDFs or folders of images. Buyers got the cards, but had to print them, shuffle by hand, or find a workaround. Creators who wanted something better needed technical skills, paid hosting, or a platform subscription.
How do you turn finished card art into a digital deck a customer can use, without the creator or the buyer dealing with technical setup?
Constraints
It had to work for creators who don’t code and buyers who won’t read instructions. So: no account, no subscription, no hosting, no API, and no internet connection after download.
So the finished deck had to be one self-contained HTML file.
The creator sells one file. The buyer double-clicks it. Everything else in the product supports that handoff.
How it works
Card art and a spreadsheet go in. A finished deck comes out.
What the buyer gets
Scope
Cut from version one.
AI made extra features easy to add. I cut most of them. The test was whether a feature improved the first experience for the creator or the buyer enough to justify the added complexity.
- Live preview in the generator
- Markdown in card meanings
- CSV editing in the generator
- Light and dark theme toggle
- Background colour picker
- Five-card spread
- Verification table
Outcome
“It was hard to find a solution to distribute the deck digitally. This app is perfect and absolutely solves the problem.”
Etsy buyer review
The generator launched as a paid Etsy product with a landing page, live demo, documentation and license terms. It has a 5.0 rating. Sales are still early, but buyers with this exact problem understood the product and said it solved it.
Examples
Two finished decks made with the generator.
These are what a creator’s customers receive. The generator itself is sold on Etsy.
Guidance of Khepri ↗ Wild Wisdom ↗ About the generator ↗