Dive Club 🤿 Dessn - Is this the future of AI prototyping?
Jan 14, 2026
Co-founders Gab and Nim unveil an innovative prototyping tool that lets designers work directly within production code. They demonstrate creating interactive components and animations on the fly without developer assistance. The discussion highlights the importance of real production context for decision-making, and how AI can elevate designers' strategic roles. Emphasis is placed on reusing existing UX patterns and the shift toward design curation over mere execution. Exciting announcements on the public beta make this a must-listen for design enthusiasts!
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Designer Prototypes From Production Code
- Ridd used Dessn to render a notification component directly from production code and explore its three variants.
- He built an animation playground, copied generated code, and pasted it into the repo without asking engineers for help.
Production As The Single Source Of Truth
- Gab argues production is the single source of truth and Dessn makes it accessible to non-coders.
- Designers can now work in the same environment as engineers without the coding barrier.
Tangible Prototypes Create Inevitability
- Seeing interactive, production-accurate prototypes removes the fiction and makes design decisions binary: ship it or not.
- That lowers the trade-off between speed and quality because tangible prototypes reveal clear ROI.