Abstract : App Planner is an interactive tool crafted to assist students in crystallizing their ideas into actionable mobile application designs that address real-world problems. Harnessing the capabilities of generative artificial intelligence (AI), App Planner scaffolds students’ efforts towards creating mobile apps through guided conversations via a chat-based interface. Built on the principles of ‘collaborative learning’ and ‘learning by doing,’ this interface collaborates with students as a partner rather than a mentor. It assists them in brainstorming and formulating new ideas for applications, provides feedback on those ideas, and stimulates creative thinking. We mediate these conversations to follow a design thinking framework that enhances and encourages students to adopt human-centered problem-solving and critical thinking perspectives. We envision App Planner to be a catalyst for student empowerment, unlocking their potential to innovate and create with technology, guided by a human-centered AI mindset.