Building a prototype library to scale AI-driven design cover
Why diamonds? It started as a joke: my coworkers said I polish my prototypes like diamonds. So I took it literally.
← Case study · Tactile Games3 min read

Diana's Diamonds

Building a prototype library to scale AI-driven design.

Role
Lead Designer, Design Engineer
Timeline
September–October 2026
Used by
Designers, PMs, Frontenders
Skills
Prototyping with AI, Design Ops, Developer handoff
prototypes in the first 6 weeks, and growing
18
deploy pipeline instead of 18
1
faster handoff to developers
2x

Every company adopting AI runs into the same problem: prototypes get cheap to make, and just as easy to lose.

At Tactile I build prototypes on our real source code, so developers can ship them. They were becoming a team asset with nowhere to live, so I proposed one library and built it. Past work stays findable, PMs catch up in a minute, and developers start from the design, not from zero.

The problem

The question isn't how to make prototypes, it's where they live once the meeting is over.

Prototypes got lostLinks lived in Slack and tickets, and cleanups deleted past work.
Every prototype lives in one library, so nothing gets deleted to save space.
Nothing said what changedA prototype copies the real app, so the new design was hard to spot.
Each prototype walks you through what changed, step by step.
Handoff started from zeroFrontenders had to dig the design change out of a separate repo.
Prototypes use the real codebase and design system, so developers get the design as a diff.
# design-reviews142 replies
PM
Where is the latest onboarding prototype?
DT
Here:proto-onboarding-v3.app
FE
Is this the one from the review? This link is dead.proto-onboarding-v2.app · 404
DT
That one was cleaned up. Try v4:proto-onboarding-v4.app
PM
What changed between v3 and v4?
FE
And which repo is it in?
Before — Illustration: prototype links lost in chat threads.
Diana's DiamondsFieldGrid
Search by name or ticketAreaStatus
Not startedIn progressReady for review
After — Wireframe: every prototype in one grid, searchable by name or ticket.

The tool

Take the tour
Every prototype, one field.Every prototype as a diamond in one field.
1 / 8

It keeps itself up to date.

Every time a prototype changes, its ticket updates with the link on its own, and the diamond shows how far along it is.

Six Claude Code skills cover the whole loop, from setting up a laptop to building the design for real.

  1. Not started
  2. In progress
  3. Ready for review
— I designed the stones with Tactile's 3D artists, cut like a Swarovski crystal so they catch light the way a real one does.
“AI prototypes are worthless if they're not collected in one place.”
The idea the whole library is built on

Key tradeoffs

DecisionFromTo

Impact

18 of 18 shippedEvery prototype in the library made it into the real product
2x faster handoffDevelopers start from the design, not from zero

What I learned

Build what you’re asked forBuild what makes people’s work easier

Nobody asked me to build this. People started using it because it made their work easier, not just mine.

Prototypes are disposablePrototypes are worth keeping, in one place

AI prototypes are worthless if they're not collected in one place. Scattered, they lose their meaning.

What's next

0612187 Sept14 Sept21 Sept28 Sept5 Oct12 OctNext: more designers adding to it18
— Prototypes in the library, from its git history.
Next case studyDesigning a LiveOps alerting system to reduce production incidents