u/BuffaloConscious7919

90% of Claude advice is technical. These are about everything else:

1. Use Haiku more. Surprised? Haiku is rapid, aligns and sanity checks fast with lower cost
2. Expand experimentation. I use images, components or scribble rough ideas and then send them to Claude Design (or use Canvas mode inbuilt) to create lots of prototypes and variations. I find it often works better than a prompt: "A picture saves a thousand words"
3. Focus on the quality. It's easy to slip into a perfectionist mindset with non-deterministic models. Imo this leads to lower productivity. Take the one or two best outputs and iterate on those.
4. Create a final set. When you get something you like 90-95% make one more grid of assets but ask: "Create a grid of 9 variants made in the style of a different artist. Add a toggle for light and dark mode. [on brand]"

#5 is yours to add

Updated set of impactful things i actually do with Claude professionally and personally. Inspired by this post:

1. Edit, don’t correct. If Claude gives a bad answer, go back and edit the prompt before it. The sh*t answer disappears from the conversation instead of influencing (and poluting) what comes next.
2. Use screenshots NOT descriptions. For designs, bugs, layouts or inspiration, upload what you mean rather than spending five paragraphs explaining it
3. Dictate messy context. Talk through the goal, constraints, what failed and what you’re unsure about. Save time, energy and often give more context. Tip. end with: These are messy voice notes, ask questions if anything is unclear
4. Use Projects for repeated work. Add your reference files, examples and templates once, then reuse that context across related chats. Tip. Organise your chats like this
5. Turn repeated prompts into Artifacts. If you keep asking Claude to do the same task, ask it to build a reusable mini-app instead: a tracker, calculator, dashboard, planner or comparison tool

Used to start working with CD (Claude Design) first. Recently been experimenting with a new workflow on the hypothesis that:

A giant component library isn’t automatically an advantage. A coherent one is.

Instead of asking CD to establish the design system, im start in Claude Code (feedback welcome pls):

1. Clean up the core component set in a git repo - my goal is to keep only stable, reusable components with decent names, variants, states, and behavior(s)

2. Sync INTO CD - I'm trying to start with a small coherent system rather than uploading a massive okish component library.

3. Generate one representative screen in CD - Choose a screen that uses your most important patterns. E.g a homepage or most used dashboard and prototype it in Claude design

4. Look for invented styles and components in CD - Check if Claude created new colors, spacing, typography, or UI patterns that already had existing equivalents.

5. Fix the source, not just the output- back in CC, improve the component, token, documentation or instruction that caused the wrong choice

6. Test several different screen types - Try contrasting layouts, e.g. a landing page, form, dashboard, mobile screen, and empty state.

7. Only then use it for serious design exploration - Once the system produces consistent results (depends on your requirements) across multiple screens, I'll start to use it more broadly.

Key takeaway (to test fully): Design-sync becomes more useful when you give Claude fewer, better, clearer choices

wtf.md stores Claude’s mistakes so I stop correcting the same things over and overrr

I split them into:

• project-specific mistakes
• model/workflow-specific mistakes

I currently run it manually when something goes wrong.

Dreaming is Kaparthy's idea and is a scheduled task that reviews the day’s sessions (at 4am). It consolidates decisions, mistakes and patterns , then carries the important context forward for the next session(s)

Next step: feed wtf.md into the dreaming process so Claude can suggest better rules, skills and project instructions

Also would like to improve either / both

4 of the 5 things here I used daily to improve productivity. Collated from this post originally:

1. /insights analyses how you use Claude and produces a structured report with suggestions for improving your workflow

2. Use Claude to prompt Claude. Before starting a new session, ask Claude to create a clear, detailed starting prompt with the relevant context, constraints and desired output

3. Model orchestration. Use a stronger model for planning and cheaper/faster models for implementation. Claude can also coordinate work across tools and other coding models, including Codex. You do not necessarily need a $100 plan to start coding with Claude

4. /model and Shift+Tab. Use /model to choose the right model for each task, and Shift+Tab to switch between manual, planning and auto modes

5. /rewind and /btw. Ask temporary questions or test an instruction without permanently disrupting the main workflow. Use /rewind to roll back the conversation, code changes or both. Use /btw for quick side questions, then dismiss the answer and continue

I love transforming ideas and visuals into something unique and special and yes I love doing that for other people too. A lot of clients recently are amazed with the speed, creativity and overall alignment of their vision. Here's a brain dump of the things that help deliver creative and unique prototypes with Claude design:

1. Gather all the information you can on the project or vision and organise it well. Ideally you want to be able to pick out specific assets as well as handoff the task to Claude or Claude design.

2. Get creative first. This is an entire topic/process in itself but here are a couple of examples: a) spend a few minutes reviewing the project assets. b) write down all of the ideas you have e.g. animated baseball loader, 3d animated intro screen with icons, waterfall photos that slide down the right side of the screen into a pool or photos... Whatever comes, jot it down. c) spend 10-15 minutes finding inspiration from sites like awwwards for beautiful designs and component libraries. Jot down the things you like. d) being them all together and write a list of 3-5 (or more) components or ideas that would work well with the project. Tip - don't stress if you're blocked or "can't think" just skip it. Almost always the ideas start flowing when the research starts or when you just stop trying and do something else.

3. Build! This could be unique layouts, the ideas you had in the previous section or anything else that came up. Tips- a) build grids or X number of prototypes e.g. "create a grid of 20 components.." or "build 6 prototype layouts... 3 desktop, 3 mobile" b) wireframe mode in Claude Design is really fast, I use it to get things out quickly into a visual form. This often saves time in the ideation phase and gets to the "good" stuff faster. c) if you have time, make 3d assets (even if the project isn't 3d), I use sonnet on low thinking mode if I want something fast or opus/fable to get something more detailed and ask for different options e.g. brass style, clay style etc. this usually buildings the objects and has a tab to see them in different ways.

4. Re-organise. Often I fall into the trap of "creative loop hell". Stop regularly and figure out what you've created and how to hand that off. I like to organise the folder structure and maintain directories for different prototypes and then keep or discard before finishing up with 3-5 "good concepts". This is often enough to give the site a little sprinkle of magic and make the site unique.

5. Important: don't ask Claude Design to generate the design without direction and exclusions. In particular I've found that specifying the fonts and colours, as well as avoiding italic accents and chip use gets you 90% of the way there.

Open to feedback and improving always and would love to hear what's work for you guys

1. Speak to the client (or yourself or Claude) and really understand the wants and needs, try to keep this conversation flowing until you and they are happy (it may seem annoying but will pay off in the long term). Gather all the information you can: assets logos, fonts preferences, maybe even their favourite Claude model! (optional) Tip. Work with a designer or project manager or anyone else if you can. Why? To get out of your own box and see things from a different perspective == better questions, better grounding and better results.

2. Produce wireframes quickly with Claude Deaign. Do matter how articulate you are or how good your verbal skills are, it almost certain that the client's vision doesn't match your own. That is until you can both see the same thing. Tip. "Create 6 wireframes layouts. 3 mobile, 3 desktop [describe the layout and details referencing client instructions]". This is really fast with the wireframe preset selected in Claude design. Impress the client with your speed and get solid feedback, reinforcing and staying aligned with their vision.

3. Generate assets in Claude design to blow their mind (or give yourself some creative flow). Use reference components, use the 3d model mode preset. Just spend a bit of time playing. This is completely optional but I find it helps to get moving in a creative way and show something to the client beyond their expectations. (And just because it's really fun!!)

4. Put everything into a design system and sign it off with yourself or the client. Tip. Don't skip details and don't keep components that you don't like or don't fit. Keep it complete but never too complete.

5. "Build 3 high fidelity UI prototype [add client details" select the design system, use UI prototype mode, add the assets to the site and send the first high fidelity prototypes to the client.

Total spent time: ~30 mins depending on the conversation level == less back and forth, better alignment and happiness levels through the roof!

This is an example that can be tweaked and changed but for me it's made things significantly smoother for client work and personal projects

A brain dump of the things that Claude design does well, badly and strangely...

THE GOOD:
Prototypes - make grids of 20 button components, make page of 5 minimal hero sections with fluid backgrounds, make a low fidelity layout before adding the styles and assets, make a neo-brutalist style pitch deck... I think you get the point.
Tips: a) Claude design seems to love grids. Ask for variants of what you're creating b) find a component library and add the component you like to the prompt. This often (not always) make the outcome feel less generic

Design systems - give the details of your business, website or other brand and it'll create. I wrote a post about this here if you want more details: https://www.reddit.com/r/DesignSystems/s/HSBBOdyDGF
Tip: open your components created in the design system, then add tweaks to make custom changes with a little UI panel. Click edit to change specific properties.

Expanding current vision (creativity) - for me this is the most useful (and honestly fun) thing. I helps me play and find new ways to do things, explore new styles. Sometimes I just allocate 30 mins to create the more random or wildly bizarre things this has led to components from fictional artist in the 1600s, mastermind groups of creatives and weird and wonderful prototypes and personal brand sites.

THE BAD:
Creating pixel perfect websites - They're good as a starting point but tbh they often don't hit the bar when it's client work, especially if it's more complex.

Token management (if you're not careful): start new chats often, select the right model for the job.
Related posts: a) Saving tokens: https://www.reddit.com/r/ClaudeDesign/s/OyqfFxmwVX, b) How 4 Claude models made the same design system: https://www.reddit.com/r/ClaudeDesign/s/ei4CQoNjye

Creating quality assets that aren't web components. So you can forget about image generation!

THE UGLY:
The hand-off has improved but I still feel it's missing full synchronicity. For example I still often have to export a design system as a zip even when I use the MCP and /design-sync.

The spacing when using the design system to create sites. Maybe I'm expecting too much but very often the spacing and alignment is not only off, it's inconsistent and random.

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I'm sure I've missed plenty in each camp. Feel free to share, correct or add !

The one thing i don't really understand I this sub is the great AI debate being a core focus on a lot of thumbnail critics.

First, I get it AI is here some people like it, some don't, some in the middle. However, is it the most important thing when a thumbnail is being critiqued ?

I see it like this. The thumbnail goes out to an audience (hopefully the channel owner knows the audience or intended audience). In which case on their mind is: do I like this -> is it interesting to me -> shall I watch it. All within a split second. Ofc I've simplified this but hopefully the point comes through.

Either way what about adding an audience to each thumbnail that's shared, it which case it might better help people give helpful feedback with some context instead of it "looks AI" which may be helpful in some cases but globally it doesn't really help improve the thumbnail nor might it be relevant at all

I want to create a place vibe coded projects can be shared, rated and categorised so if you wanted to find inspiration you could search for projects in that category or if you wanted to share them you could. I've got a lot of ideas for how to make it work but would like to know if you'd consider adding your projects and what you'd want to see there.