Intent Prototyping

Intent Prototyping is a design method that uses AI to transform a designer's clear, documented intent—including sketches, conceptual models, and user flows—directly into a live, interactive prototype.

What Problems Does It Solve?

In many design processes, teams over-invest in creating beautiful, high-fidelity mockups while neglecting the underlying system architecture. As a result, the product looks good on the surface but is built on a flawed or ambiguous conceptual model. This common approach leads to critical structural issues, difficult handoffs to engineering, and costly rework, especially in complex, data-heavy applications. Intent Prototyping was created to solve this by bridging the gap between a clear design vision and a robust, testable artifact from day one.

How It Works

The process begins with the designer creating an unambiguous expression of their intent: a holistic blueprint that includes annotated sketches for the UI, diagrams for the conceptual model, and notes on user flows. This blueprint is then used by an AI to generate a detailed technical specification and implementation plan. Following this plan, an AI coding agent builds a fully functional, interactive prototype ready for immediate user testing. The entire design can be rapidly iterated upon by simply updating the initial intent. This makes the live prototype the primary canvas for ideation, not a high-effort afterthought as in the traditional process.

So It's Vibe Coding?

Not exactly. Vibe coding is an improvisational conversation with an AI, which leads to ambiguity. Intent Prototyping, in contrast, is a disciplined process that starts with a clear, documented blueprint—the intent. The AI's role is not to guess, but to execute a well-defined plan, ensuring the prototype is built on a solid foundation from the start.

Key Benefits

Rapid Iteration on Real Logic: Go beyond surface-level feedback by allowing users to interact with the prototype's core logic from day one.
Enforced Conceptual Clarity: The process forces you to define the system's architecture upfront, preventing the critical structural flaws that can derail complex projects.
A Durable Source of Truth: The documented intent and live prototype serve as a clear, unambiguous specification for engineering, eliminating the guesswork and "intent archaeology" of a typical design handoff.

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