Vercel's Pranati Perry explains that tools like V0 occupy a new space between static design (Figma) and development. They enable designers and PMs to create interactive prototypes that better communicate intent, supplement PRDs, and explore dynamic states without requiring full engineering resources.

At Perplexity, the design system lives in the codebase, not Figma. Designers contribute directly to the frontend, creating a single source of truth that eliminates drift between design files and production code, forcing a highly practical and collaborative process.

AI-powered "vibe coding" is reversing the design workflow. Instead of starting in Figma, designers now build functional prototypes directly with code-generating tools. Figma has shifted from being the first step (exploration) to the last step (fine-tuning the final 20% of pixel-perfect details).

To rapidly iterate on mobile UI, Lynn sketches screens on physical index cards, which have a similar aspect ratio to a phone. He then photographs these low-fidelity mockups and uses GPT-4's image generation to "upscale" them into high-fidelity designs, bridging the gap between physical brainstorming and digital prototyping tools like Figma.

Not all parts of an application require the same level of design polish. Founders must develop an "editorial eye" to invest heavily in the core user experience (a 9/10) while accepting "good enough" for less critical areas like settings pages (a 5/10).

The co-founder, a designer, learned React to bypass the classic frustration of developers misinterpreting high-fidelity mockups. By designing directly in code, he maintains full control over the final UI, eliminates the handoff process, and saves significant time and back-and-forth.

To rapidly iterate on interactive ideas in code, create your own version of "Command D." Instead of hard-coding values, build a simple control panel with variables for parameters like speed or distance, allowing for easy adjustment and testing of multiple variations.

The panel suggests a best practice for AI prototyping tools: focus on pinpointed interactions or small, specific user flows. Once a prototype grows to encompass the entire product, it's more efficient to move directly into the codebase, as you're past the point of exploration.

Figma's success as a general-purpose design tool (useful for posters, floor plans, etc.) is precisely what makes it suboptimal for software development. Its WebGL-based canvas is fundamentally disconnected from the DOM, creating a "pretty picture" that requires a separate, costly engineering effort to translate into code.