How I AI

How to use Cursor for interactive prototypes, sound design, and data visualization

Elizabeth Lin is an independent design educator who has crafted learning experiences for Khan Academy, Primer, and Lambda School. She currently runs design is a party, an alternative online design school where she teaches courses like The Art of Visual Design and Prototyping with Cursor. In this episode, she shares how designers can leverage Cursor to create interactive prototypes with sound, explore different visual aesthetics, and transform basic designs into polished interfaces—all without deep coding knowledge. *What you'll learn:* 1. How to use Cursor to explore different design aesthetics—from brutalist to Y2K to cyberpunk 2. A simple workflow for creating interactive sound elements in prototypes that would be difficult with traditional design tools 3. A step-by-step process for transforming an ugly dashboard into a polished design using strategic prompting 4. Why broadening your inspiration sources helps Cursor generate more unique and creative design 5. Techniques for teaching AI tools to understand your design preferences and taste 6. A practical approach to creating data-driven prototypes by connecting Cursor with Notion databases 7. How to use Cursor Rules to streamline your prototyping workflow and avoid repetitive setup tasks *Brought to you by:* Lovable—Build apps by simply chatting with AI: https://lovable.dev/ Retool—AI that's designed for developers, and built for the enterprise: https://retool.com/howiai *Where to find Elizabeth Lin:* Website: https://www.lalizlabeth.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/elizabethylin/ X: https://x.com/lalizlabeth *Where to find Claire Vo:* ChatPRD: https://www.chatprd.ai/ Website: https://clairevo.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/clairevo/ X: https://x.com/clairevo *In this episode, we cover:* (00:00) Introduction to Elizabeth (02:20) Demo: Exploring different visual styles with Cursor (08:20) Comparing different design iterations from the same prompt (12:35) Building a working piano prototype with one prompt (16:30) Understanding what’s happening behind the scenes (18:28) Practical design team scenarios using Cursor (21:00) Step-by-step walkthrough of transforming an ugly finance dashboard (27:29) Using targeted prompts to improve layout and visual design (29:22) Building data-driven prototypes powered by Notion databases (31:12) Lightning round and final thoughts *Tools referenced:* • Cursor: https://cursor.sh/ • Notion: https://www.notion.so/ • v0: https://v0.dev/ • ChatGPT: https://chat.openai.com/ *Other references:* • Edward Tufte: https://www.edwardtufte.com/ • Robinhood: https://robinhood.com/ • Cash App: https://cash.app/ • Stripe: https://stripe.com/ • Neopets: https://www.neopets.com/ • Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/ • Shad CN: https://ui.shadcn.com/ • Sketch: https://www.sketch.com/ • Figma: https://www.figma.com/ • Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/ _Production and marketing by https://penname.co/._ _For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email jordan@penname.co._

ELElizabeth LinguestCVClaire Vohost

Jun 16, 2025·35m·Watch on YouTube ↗

📖 CHAPTERS

1. 1

   Meet Elizabeth Lin: using Cursor as a creative design tool (not just coding)

   Claire introduces Elizabeth Lin, a designer who uses Cursor to explore aesthetics, interactivity, and polish in prototypes. Elizabeth frames Cursor as a creative playground that brings back the joy of early web-making while still supporting “serious” design outcomes.

2. 2

   Demo setup: turning a blank homepage into an aesthetic exploration sandbox

   Elizabeth shows a simple homepage with minimal styling and explains why she often starts from a basic scaffold. She uses Cursor to first generate a menu of aesthetic directions rather than deciding on a style upfront.

3. 3

   Prompting for style ideas: extracting movements and design language from Cursor

   Elizabeth runs a prompt asking which design aesthetics Cursor can implement and gets back a list with descriptions. Claire highlights how useful it is to receive concrete adjectives and components that can be reused in later prompts.

4. 4

   Style execution: brutalist + Y2K redesign and the ‘happy accidents’ of AI CSS

   They pick two contrasting styles—brutalist and Y2K—and apply them to the homepage. The output includes unexpected elements like typing animations and extra hover/glow effects, illustrating how AI can generate ideas a designer might not reach for manually.

5. 5

   Iteration workflow: restore checkpoints, rerun prompts, compare outcomes

   Elizabeth demonstrates sending the same prompt again and getting a dramatically different design. She explains her habit of restoring checkpoints often to avoid getting stuck in an unwanted direction, while saving screenshots to preserve promising iterations.

6. 6

   One-prompt interactive prototype: building a playable piano with sound

   Elizabeth shows a working digital piano prototype—something difficult to replicate in typical design tools—highlighting sound, interactivity, and parameter controls. The example demonstrates how Cursor enables designers to prototype experiences (not just screens).

7. 7

   Speeding up creation with Cursor Rules: reusable prototype scaffolding

   Elizabeth creates a new piano prototype in an “old Mac OS” style and reveals her lightweight Cursor Rule for cloning a template folder and adding it to a homepage. The rule reduces setup friction so she can focus on design and behavior.

8. 8

   Behind the scenes mindset: understand enough to iterate without overengineering

   Claire asks whether Elizabeth inspects how the prototype works. Elizabeth explains she wants a baseline understanding (libraries used, adjustable parameters) to extend possibilities, without getting bogged down in implementation details.

9. 9

   From playful to practical: adopting Cursor inside real design teams

   Elizabeth shifts from fun demos to how this fits into team workflows. She argues practical adoption requires upfront investment—bringing a design system or components into code so designers can reuse them in prototypes consistently.

10. 10

    Dashboard makeover, part 1: targeted prompting to fix an ‘ugly’ finance UI

    Elizabeth opens an AI-generated personal finance dashboard and critiques common issues (shadows, chaotic color, weak typography, awkward hierarchy). She starts improving it with short, specific prompts (e.g., remove drop shadows; modernize; reference Robinhood/Cash App/Stripe).

11. 11

    Dashboard makeover, part 2: iterate one constraint at a time (layout, spacing, color)

    Elizabeth continues with small, focused corrections—like fixing a background that doesn’t fill the viewport—rather than requesting many changes at once. Claire notes that this mirrors good design critique: isolate one or two fixes per iteration to avoid model forgetfulness.

12. 12

    Teaching ‘taste’ with references: Edward Tufte, Apple-level layout, and prompt hygiene

    Elizabeth shows how named references (Edward Tufte principles; “a top designer at Apple would approve”) steer the model toward cleaner visuals and better grids. She also shares prompt-tracking habits and the idea of having Cursor generate reusable notes/rules when an output works well.

13. 13

    Data-driven prototypes with real data: building UIs powered by Notion databases

    Elizabeth highlights where Cursor shines most: prototypes backed by real data. She demonstrates a Notion-powered personal “Goodreads-like” bookshelf, emphasizing how quickly a designer can create a functional UI layer on top of a lightweight database.

14. 14

    Lightning round: what to keep manual, how to stay creative, and dealing with stubborn AI

    Elizabeth shares what she still prefers doing by hand (playful graphic design tasks) and how designers can avoid homogenized AI outputs by broadening inspirations beyond standard UI kits. She also offers a practical reset tactic: if the model won’t listen (especially on animations), restart rather than digging deeper.