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Thinking through material | Liam Matteson

liam.cv · 310 words · saved by 1 readers

I wanted to provide my perspective here based on the recent discourse around design as it relates to building software. Different mediums surface different concerns. With modern tools, coding lets us move faster and understand constraints sooner. That was true pre-AI, and it's more true now. Code gives form to reality. Those constraints don't suffocate creativity—they give it something to work with. Before AI, I wasn't coding much. Now I ship and prototype with code almost every day. I can communicate intent faster, test ideas immediately, and see where I need to change course. A huge part of this is working directly with models. Simply understanding what a model outputs and how to steer it opens up novel directions you wouldn't have arrived at from a spec or a diagram. The same can be...

Writing Thoughts on design, craft, and building products Dec 15, 2025 Code as medium I wanted to provide my perspective here based on the recent discourse around design as it relates to building. Different mediums surface different concerns. With modern tools, coding lets us move faster and understand constraints sooner. That was true pre-AI, and it's more true now. Code gives form to reality. Those constraints don't suffocate creativity—they give it something to work with. Before AI, I wasn't coding much. Now I ship and prototype with code almost every day. I can communicate intent faster, te

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