Pliny
Strategy
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Product
Pliny went through several iterations. We would create a rough prototype in a matter of days, post it to Reddit and Discord for feedback, and then go back to the drawing board. I created a flexible (though imperfect) design language system that could weather the storm, as inspired by Kaari Saarinen – designer at AirBnb, Spotify, and Linear.
The following GIF shows an early version of Pliny that we conceived as a version control system for prompt engineers. It included a history slider – an ingenious feature courtesy of Ben Williams. As you can see, while the structure, components, and button types changed drastically, the basic look and feel is the same as the first photo in this case study.
We built the site using Next.js.
Brand
Copy
Pliny was always designed to gather information. The site had many cues for users to provide feedback, and I created surveys that would lead users gracefully into the site’s core functionality. We gathered data on the users’ selections in order to make quick updates.
The users tended to be people who were also experimenting with AI, so the site included a lot of tutorial-esque copy that would inform and delight the user as they played around with the magic of GPT-3.
Process and Learnings
This was my last project at Ahoy Labs, a startup that I co-founded in January 2022. We were in a phase of rapid experimentation, and this was one of several products that I designed during a 3-month period.
Our team always built quick, but this was extreme. AI was moving fast, and we wanted to put out lots of experiments. Figuring out priorities and iterating in tight loops takes grit, determination, and focus.
Since I left the startup, it has evolved into Faraday.dev, an application for chatting with AI characters – check it out!
