Free course
Agentic Prototyping with pen.dev
Direct an AI design agent, preserve system coherence, and turn an idea into a verified design-to-code vertical slice.
What you'll learn
A practical build-along for product designers, design-system practitioners, and design-minded builders who want to prototype with an agent without surrendering design judgment. You will work inside a real project, use pen.dev's local MCP connection to create and edit a version-controlled .pen file, establish variables and reusable components, explore variants, inspect the result, and carry one coherent product slice between design and code. The course treats agentic prototyping as a directed loop—frame, encode, generate, inspect, repair, and commit—not as a one-shot prompt.
Curriculum
Module 1 — Frame the Agentic Prototype
- Agentic prototyping is a loop, not a promptreading · 30 min
- Install the working environment and prove the connectionreading · 35 min
- Module 1 Check-In — Framing and Setupquiz · 10 min
Module 2 — Make Intent Legible to the Agent
- Read the design substrate: tree, canvas, and contextreading · 35 min
- Write prompts as design direction and change contractsreading · 40 min
- Module 2 Check-In — Context and Directionquiz · 10 min
Module 3 — Build a Small Design System Before More Screens
- Turn repeated decisions into variables and themesreading · 40 min
- Use components, slots, and libraries as delegation boundariesreading · 45 min
- Module 3 Check-In — Systems and Reusequiz · 10 min
Module 4 — Explore, Stress, and Repair
- Generate controlled variants and use code on the canvasreading · 40 min
- Inspect screenshots, hierarchy, and failure statesreading · 45 min
- Module 4 Check-In — Exploration and Verificationquiz · 10 min
Module 5 — Carry One Vertical Slice Between Design and Code
- Move from code to design and back without pretending sync is magicreading · 50 min
- Capstone: direct, verify, and hand off an agentic prototypereading · 60 min
- Module 5 Check-In — Design-to-Code and Capstonequiz · 10 min
Module 6 — Field Reference and Works Cited
- Field guide: the agentic prototyping operating rhythmreading · 25 min
- Works cited and documentation mapreading · 25 min
Your instructor
Zen Lara
Product designer and systems practitioner working across design systems, creative operations, research, and human-centered agentic workflows. Zen teaches AI as a material for directed practice: useful when it expands exploration, legibility, and shared judgment rather than merely increasing output.
Free, funded by supporters
There is no paywall on this course. If it helps you, you can choose to support it — that keeps it free for everyone else.