marilyn l

The fractures fell neatly along disciplines: engineers using AI to wish away designers, designers wishing away engineers, product managers wishing away both. In this climate, AI becomes frenemy identification technology, another way to avoid working together. It’s always easier to grab a tool and bypass the mess of coordination

You don't need to be an engineer to use code to achieve your goals.

In fact, I've observed that non-technical people tend to have the most interesting ideas when it comes to vibe coding. While engineers immerse themselves in the solution, non-technical people immerse themselves in the problem. A lawyer, doctor, or marketer who uses code can... See more

craft as practice (not as output)

doing something because the doing itself teaches you, even if the result is mid

prompts: “what’s a low-stakes study?” “what would i learn only by doing it the slow/manual way?”

renald agrees that perfectionism can be a useful power-up at times. “What I learned recently is there’s a time and a place for perfectionism,” he says. “And that time is self-initiated projects, because you’re investing in yourself. If you can hone that perfectionism and still put something out on time, it makes the world of difference.”

One of Kim’s core points throughout the book is that aesthetic value doesn’t track forward with technology, but backwards. As tools become cheaper, faster, and more widely accessible, the images they produce tend to lose cultural weight. What gains value are the qualities those tools no longer reproduce.

It’s “part portfolio site, part conspiracy wiki, part psychedelic rabbit hole” – an experience of discovery for the user.

At the end of day, products live and die in the pixels: it's what the users see and tap. And without someone shepherding that process, you are effectively wandering the desert blind.

As creatives, hopefully we can find the balance between mistakes and perfection, so we can be productive and enjoy the work.”

renald sees his own studio as a “representation of us [...] so we have to get that right. And if it’s not up to par, it’s our fault.”