Five Great Thinkers to Start Your Week
Shelly Palmer, Jenny Ouyang, Xinran Ma, Heather Cooper, Andy Budd
English is The New Programming Language
I was going to write an entire blog post on this subject, but it turns out Shelly Palmer has already written the article I’m still formulating in my head. But I’ll add my two cents before I share his link. I’ve built about a dozen apps (experiments) in the last week with a variety of vibe coding tools, simply by describing what I want. It can be frustrating at times, but it forces you to think like both a programmer and a project manager. If you are a UX designer/Product designer, the time to experiment with these tools is now. The easiest way to get started is to customize one of the Claude Artifacts or one of the sample projects at Google AI Studio. But first, go read Shelly’s article.
Free Online Live Workshops from Maven
While we’re on the subject, I’ve written before about Xinran Ma and his “Design with AI” series and he teaches some pricey classes on a platform called Maven. However, Maven has a lot of shorter, free workshops if you’re just getting started. I’m signed up for From Zero to Product: Building with AI as a Designer on Fri, Jul 18, 2025 7:00 AM PDT (45 minutes, Zoom). There are several other free workshops as well.
"This talk shows you don’t need to know how to code to build something real with AI — but you do need to understand how things connect under the hood. If you can think in prompts, shape ideas, and stay technically curious, you can launch, grow, and even monetize your work. This is a hands-on look at going from idea to impact — using the tools already at your fingertips."
Writer of the Week: Jenny Ouyang
When I first started writing this newsletter, In didn’t really have a plan beyond ‘post links to cool shit I’m reading’. However, I now have a clearer goal of ‘experiment with AI tools and share my learnings in the public view. I recently stumbled up one the Substack of Jenny Ouyang, who has a similar pursuit, but at a much higher level. If you’re ready to make a big leap in your understanding of AI, I recommend you subscribe. Here’s a link to her ‘About’ page, or you could start with her Simple AI Roadmap for Normal People. I was really impressed
Also, Heather Cooper, Visually AI
While we’re on the subject of brilliant Substackers, I really have to mention ‘Visually AI’ by Heather Cooper. Every week I find some tasty tidbit or prompt example that’s helping me become a better AI creative. Check it out
Fast, Cheap, or Good? You No Longer Have to Choose?
Andy Budd writes about how we’re now living in a new paradigm where fast cheap and good can all coexist when the cost of coding and creative goes to almost zero. But, the better choice, of course, is still slow and deliberate. Check it out
Alisa by Genova Labs is my New Favorite Tool
This one is still in Beta ( and I have the good fortune to be a beta tester), but I will say this right here and now, it’s gonna be huge! All your favorite image models under one roof, a great range of video generators, as well as writing and coding tools, all in one gorgeous and easy to use interface. Try and get one of those invite codes. https://www.thealisa.com/home
My new workflow is to generate in Flux Kontext and convert to video using the new Seedance Pro model and Alisa makes it a breeze to use. See below.
Okay, that’s it for today. I hope you’re having a fantastic summer. As always, if you’re curious, or you’d like me to take a deeper dive into a subject, send me a message.
Or, if you like what you’re reading, you can buy me a coffee
Erik