Introduction
Generative AI is a game-changing technology that helps you realize your ideas.
Whatever skills you might lack to take your product idea to a clickable prototype – generative AI can be used to fill in those gaps.
This is great news for creators of all trades – for marketers, developers, designers, business managers – whatever role you are in – your ideas no longer have to die on a backlog.
Prototyping Before Generative AI
It was always possible to prototype your product ideas without deep knowledge of all the steps of the prototyping process.
Just think about tools for building websites with templates, app builders for mobile apps, or tools for creating company-specific apps.
Tools like Adalo, WebFlow, WordPress, Glide, Coda, and others stand for the No-Code movement.
However, these apps still require you to learn and understand these tools to know which is suitable for building your prototype.
That changes with generative AI.
Prototyping with Generative AI
Instead of learning a specific tool before endeavoring on a prototyping session, you can start with a prompt written in a natural language.
An AI chat interface like ChatGPT or Claude can be the central cockpit to orchestrate the prototyping process.
From getting feedback on your idea, working on the design and code creation, and publishing your prototype online. All steps involved in creating a prototype can be sped up using generative AI.
Take, for example, one of these viewpoints:
| Role | Prototype Idea | lacking skill(s) |
|---|---|---|
| DEVELOPER | A project/to-do app specifically tailored to the needs of the team | Design and User Experience |
| MARKETER | An app supporting a marketing campaign | Lacking coding skills and prototyping know-how |
| DESIGNER | Internal app for managing design iterations with clients | Lacking project management skills and coding skills |
| PRODUCT MANAGER | A new feature for a retail banking app | How to turn wireframes into clickable user interface designs |
| SALES MANAGER | A feature idea for the CRM in use | Lacking Design/Coding skills |
| ENTREPRENEUR | A startup idea in the AI space | How to take the written concept to a visual prototype |
| any other role | all kinds of ideas | lacking all or many of the skills needed |
Demo: From Idea to Clickable Prototype in 30 minutes with Generative AI
This video showcases how to take a rough first idea from brainstorming to a clickable prototype with only writing prompts.
This is the prototype I am going to create with generative AI:
An app that makes it easy to connect with other conference attendees. This is the description I started with:
The app connects to LinkedIn, and shows professionals nearby.
It makes it easy to message and set up meetings.
A Tinder-like interface to swipe between profiles.
An easy way to signal your interests and meet like-minded people in your industry.
The goal is to have a visual and clickable representation of the basic app functionality.
In the video, you can see how I realized this prototype:
Generative AI at every stage of the prototyping process
At every stage of the prototyping process, AI tools help creators of all trades to realize their ideas.
Research
Before starting working on your prototype right away, you can use AI to:
- Get feedback on your idea
- Detect potential loopholes in your thinking
- Outline the scope of your prototype and its features
- and much more
Screenshot: Getting feedback on a product idea:
Sketch and Wireframe
AI-powered text-to-image tools allow you to create wireframes and user interfaces by writing prompts. You can also use Claude, ChatGPT or other AI tools to create wireframes based on drawings, turn existing screens into wireframes, or start with just a prompt.
Screenshot: Creating a wireframe from a prompt
AI generates the screens needed by describing the prototype you wish to create. You can improve by writing follow-up prompts on how to change the created drafts.
Screenshot: Creating a user interface from a prompt
Once you are happy with a result, you can copy it to a specialty tool and continue editing there.
Alternatively, copy the created material to your slide deck to better communicate your idea. Or use AI to create a website that communicates your concept.
Design
Using the vision AI features in tools like ChatGPT or Claude make it possible to upload existing brand material (color scheme, logos, screenshots) and extract the design details that should be applied to your prototype.
Screenshot: Uploading a brand asset and asking for an analysis of it
Develop
All popular AI Chat tools support code creation. By describing the app prototype you want to create and providing all the details, you can make a clickable prototype with just prompting.
You can do that without knowing how to code, but you must be able to describe the functionality.
Screenshot: Code creation in ChatGPT
Depending on your knowledge, you can create clickable app prototypes by just writing prompts.
Screen recording: An app prototype called “Tinder for Books” was created with generative AI tools.
Check out another app prototype: Creating a social media image app tailored to your needs.
Publish and Test
You need to publish your prototype somewhere so people can review it and give feedback.
Again, AI tools like ChatGPT and Claude can publish the work you create by prompting. You do not need to know anything about publishing web apps on the Internet; AI can handle that.
Screenshot: Publishing your prototype from inside ChatGPT
Iterate
The last step in our prototyping process is collecting feedback and iterating your idea.
AI tools can analyze the generated feedback, group it into categories, and summarize the overall sentiment. Using AI, you can quickly reach a yes/no decision about whether to proceed to the next stage and move from prototyping to building the actual product.
Screenshot: Asking ChatGPT to analyze your collected user feedback
Conclusion
Using generative AI empowers creators of all trades, regardless of skill level, to realize their ideas quickly and cost-effectively.
It takes only hours to go from napkin sketches to visual prototypes that convey the idea. Using the latest AI tools, you can create clickable prototypes for a real product experience by writing prompts in natural language.
Generative AI also empowers anyone to have a holistic view of prototyping. A designer can create code, a marketer can create a user interface design, a developer can create marketing copy, and so on.
The prototyping process I’ve outlined here will look drastically different in a year, maybe even in a few months. That’s both thrilling and a bit daunting. But the possibilities are boundless for creators willing to embrace this wave of innovation.
Having the skills to utilize AI in product prototyping can foster innovation in a team and organization. Adopting these skills across teams and roles can have a game-changing impact on a business.
Contact us for a detailed demo of the AI-powered prototyping framework we developed. We will tailor a service offering that meets your needs and gives you or your team a head start.