In a past project, I designed the UI in Claude Code. I wanted to get a feel for when designing with code makes sense and can actually be useful.

One thing I found frustrating about prototyping in code is making small tweaks. Like changing the margin, color, or text size. Sometimes I’d rather just tweak it in a visual editor and see the change right away, instead of prompting, waiting, and then checking the result. So I made a visual editor where I can tweak the design in the browser, and it updates the code.

I bought an M5StickC Plus2 after seeing someone post some prototyping ideas, like bringing an AI chat experience to their kid through this tiny device or building a cash ledger for kids’ allowances. Very interesting.

I see it as a medium for prototyping unique ideas within constraints, fewer buttons, a small screen, and limited hardware functions.

The first thing that came to my mind was to prototype something that combines analog interaction with digital technology.

I made a Pomodoro sand timer with simulated sand physics. After 25 minutes, the sand fills up, and you can reset the timer simply by turning the device upside down.