Our designer built an operating system with Cursor

Summary

In this video, Rio, head of design at Cursor, showcases the evolution of Cursor and its unique ability to bring creative ideas to life. He explains how he built various apps, like a time-traveling browser and a futuristic iPod, using AI and intuitive design. From experimenting with retro Mac OS styles to creating playful, interactive games and prototypes, Rio emphasizes the importance of creativity, experimentation, and intuition in design. He also highlights the power of AI in enhancing productivity, enabling anyone to transform their ideas into reality by combining the right context and tools.

Takeaways

• 😀 Rio’s journey with Cursor started from building small tools and evolved into creating interactive, AI-driven experiences.
• 😀 Early inspiration came from Apple, especially the design of the first iMac, which emphasized making technology feel more human.
• 😀 Rio uses AI to create polished, interactive web-based applications that blend creativity with code, making the process more fun and accessible.
• 😀 Rio’s ‘time-traveling browser’ uses AI to reimagine historical web pages, combining real-time browsing with AI-generated past and future versions of sites.
• 😀 The time machine app allows users to go back or forward in time to view reimagined websites from specific years, complete with AI-generated content.
• 😀 Cursor makes it easy to prototype, experiment, and interact with different design models, allowing fast iteration compared to traditional tools like Figma.
• 😀 Rio’s ‘baby cursor’ is a lightweight version of Cursor that enables experimentation with new ideas and testing different models to create unique apps.
• 😀 By using Cursor and AI, Rio quickly built a functional, interactive snake game, highlighting how fast and intuitive prototyping can be with the right tools.
• 😀 Rio discusses the blurring of roles between designers, engineers, and product managers as AI becomes a tool for all stages of product creation, from concept to execution.
• 😀 AI can improve design by providing better front-end solutions, letting creators focus on other aspects while the AI handles tasks like pixel-perfect UI or code generation.
• 😀 The future of AI-powered design will see more people able to easily prototype and build ideas with AI, making creativity more accessible to everyone with curiosity and a bit of time.

Q & A

What is Rio's role at Cursor?

Rio is the head of design at Cursor.

How did Rio get into website design?

Rio started making websites at the age of 11 and was inspired by Apple products, especially the first iMac.

What was Rio's initial motivation behind building Cursor?

Rio created Cursor as a tool to help people vibe with code and turn ideas into polished, soulful projects, showing that coding doesn't have to be messy.

How does the 'time-traveling browser' Rio created work?

The time-traveling browser allows users to visit websites from the past, present, and future, using AI to generate future web pages and pulling historical pages from the Wayback Machine.

What is the purpose of the 'baby cursor' that Rio built?

Baby Cursor is a prototype tool for experimenting with different ideas and testing models. It helps Rio test various versions of the app and code in a more experimental environment.

What is the significance of using AI in Rio's projects?

AI is integral to Rio's projects as it allows for quick prototyping, generating content across time periods, and experimenting with different ideas without the constraints of traditional coding workflows.

How does Rio approach design and prototyping for tools like Cursor?

Rio prefers to code directly for rapid prototyping, instead of relying on slower design tools like Figma. This approach allows for faster iterations and functional UI development in a short amount of time.

What is the 'noise' feature that Rio implemented in Cursor?

The noise feature is a programmatic addition that plays elevator music or random noise effects to create an ambient environment, which is customized by Rio through AI-generated prompts.

What does Rio mean by AI being an extension of oneself in the context of design?

Rio believes that with tools like Cursor, AI can become an extension of a person's creativity, allowing them to build and experiment with ideas that align with their own vision, blurring the lines between the tool and the user.

What is the vision for AI in design and engineering, as shared by Rio?

Rio envisions AI transforming the roles of designers, engineers, and product managers. AI will help these professionals move away from traditional workflows and allow them to interact directly with code, creating more efficient, real-time iterations of ideas.