Case Study
RunToIt
Validated, designed, built and deployed in 3 weeks
Building a consumer social running app solo, from user insight to live product
Overview
RunToIt is a social running app connecting Londoners through taste-led routes that end at curated social destinations: coffee shops, bakeries and community spots. Built entirely solo, from initial insight through to live deployment, to test a consumer product hypothesis and show end-to-end product and build capability.
Role
Solo PM, Designer & Developer
Sector
Consumer / Lifestyle
Timeline
3 weeks to live
The Problem
Running in London is often solitary or repetitive. A growing number of young Londoners use running as a social occasion, heading out in groups and ending at a coffee shop or bakery afterwards, but no product curates that full experience. Existing running apps focus on performance, not social context or place. The insight: people don't just want a route, they want an experience they can share with friends in the real world.
My Role
Ownership & Scope
Everything. Product Manager, designer and sole developer. Responsible for discovery, validation, UX design, development and deployment.
The Approach
Started with validation, checking demand with 30+ London runners for taste-led, social route discovery before writing a line of code. Ran competitive analysis against existing running and discovery apps to find the gap. Created mood boards to define the product's visual and emotional identity. Mapped core user journeys and designed from low to high fidelity before building.
The Solution
A full-stack consumer app using the Google Places API for curated destination discovery and the Claude API for route and recommendation logic. Users pick a vibe, get a route tailored to it, and finish at a handpicked social destination. Designed in Figma, prototyped with Claude, built with Claude Code and Cursor, and deployed on Supabase and Vercel.
Results
The Outcome
30+
London runners validated with before the build began
3 weeks
From initial concept to live deployment
Live
Fully deployed and live on the web
End-to-end
Solo product and build capability using AI-native tools
Reflection
“This product came from my own experience, so it was interesting to find out, before I started, whether others wanted something like it too. Getting hands-on and doing heavier product work with AI was really enjoyable, and as my first public product, I'm really happy with where it's got to.”
Roly Hancock © 2026