CT390 · FALL 2026 · SCHOOL OF ART & DESIGN
Rapid Prototypingwith AI
Methodologies for leveraging AI to accelerate design ideation and testing. Students use LLMs, generative AI, and vibe coding for rapid concept development — and finish the semester able to prototype at a fidelity indistinguishable from production, and to collaborate credibly with engineers.
DATE & TIME
Wednesdays 6:30 – 9:30 PM
FORMAT
In person
PRE-REQUISITES
TBD
PROFESSORS
Hedy Deng · David Mendez
WHAT THIS COURSE IS FOR
Five things you leave with
01
A mental model of the web
How modern web software is built, versioned, and deployed — working and unintimidating.
02
AI-assisted development as design
Specification, art direction, critique and iteration. You are the art director; the agent executes.
03
The design system → code pipeline
Tokens, styles, components, layout — including generating the design system itself with AI.
04
Industry-standard tooling
Git, GitHub, VS Code, Next.js, Tailwind, shadcn/ui, Vercel, Supabase.
05
Production-fidelity prototypes
Prototype at a fidelity indistinguishable from production, and collaborate credibly with engineers.
WEEKLY OUTLINE
Course Syllabus
The weekly outline is subject to change according to pedagogical needs. Every session runs 6:30 – 9:30 PM, in person.
WK
DATE
TOPIC
MILESTONE
01
09/02/26
Introduction
02
09/09/26
Your First Webpage & Git Basics
03
09/16/26
Enter AI Coding
04
09/23/26
Static App I — Choosing a Stack, Scaffolding & DESIGN.md
05
09/30/26
Static App II — Compiling and Deploying
06
10/07/26
Full Stack App I — Wireframing with Cowork
07
10/14/26
Full Stack App II — AI Inside the Product
08
10/21/26
Animations & Interactivity
MIDTERM BRIEF
09
10/28/26
Midterm Work Session
BUILD SESSION
10
11/04/26
Sharpening Your Tools & Accessibility
MIDTERM DUE
11
11/11/26
Authenticated App I — Databases
12
11/18/26
Authenticated App II — Features & Production Readiness
FINAL ANNOUNCED
13
11/25/26
Final Project Work Session
BUILD SESSION
14
12/02/26
Final Presentation Review
WIP CRITIQUE
15
12/09/26
Final Presentations
FINAL DEMOS
THE TOOLCHAIN
Name each piece and what job it does
GitHub
Where the code lives and how versions are tracked
Classroom 50
Where assignments are handed out, submitted, and returned with feedback
VS Code
The editor everything happens in
Claude Code
The agent that writes and edits the code
Figma
Where the design system is defined
Vercel
Where the finished apps get deployed
Classroom 50 has no database of its own — it is a thin layer over GitHub. An assignment is a repository, submitting is pushing to it, and feedback is comments on a pull request.