AI saved my creative spark as a designer

I work in product design, where the goal is to create usable products. When I first started, I was excited about making interfaces that felt “cool.” Creating designs that are both beautiful and functional is the soul of the craft, and seeing those designs come to life is incredibly rewarding.

But outside of work, it became harder to maintain that creative spark. Without an outlet, things started to feel stagnant.

AI changed that. My designs no longer had to be static images.

With co-development tools like Cursor, I can actually build my ideas and explore them from a different perspective. I can see “both sides of the fence” with a few commands, I can dive deep into development topics that fascinate me.

That shift let me move between design and development, instead of staying on one side.

Design stopped feeling static. It became something I could explore and iterate on in a more dynamic way.

That brought back a sense of excitement. It feels like a new creative space opened up, both in how I work and how I think about my career.

Step 1: Ask AI to build the first version of your project.

For example: Build me the foundations of a homepage for my restaurant in Node.js.

Step 2: Let the AI generate the full set of files and structure.

Step 3: Create a reference file right away. Have the AI summarize what it just built.

For example: Please read over each file you created. Then create a brief summary of each file and save it as Reference.txt.

This gives the AI a simple memory of what it created and will save you time later.

Step 4: Remind the AI to use the reference file when continuing work.

Step 5: Update the reference file as you make changes.

Step 6: If something breaks or gets off track, point the AI back to the reference file and try again. The AI will get confused at times. The reference file helps bring it back on track.