From Designer to Builder: Prototyping & Creating Music Tools with AI
Coding the Vibes: How to Build a Real-Time Browser Synthesizer Without Knowing How to Code (You Can, Too)
We’re living in a moment where designers are uniquely empowered to turn ideas rapidly into functioning prototypes and products.
In this live demo and conversation, Arseni Harkunou shares a hands-on experiment in building a real-time browser-based synthesizer (without knowing how to code), offering a practical look at modern creative tooling, rapid prototyping, and learning by building.
With a design background and a deep interest in electronic music, Arseni set out to explore what a non-coding designer could build using modern AI agents like Codex. What started as a simple experiment quickly turned into a custom, playable instrument inspired by the sound and character of classic techno machines like the Roland SH-101 and TR-909.
Topics we’ll cover
✨ Live demo of a synthesizer (and a link to try yourself)
✨ Where to start and the tools you need
✨ How to approach what seems hard (and what are the limits)
✨ How quickly you can go from idea to something tangible
✨ Process and practical techniques (including what to do when agents don’t give you what you want)
✨ Learning through experimentation
✨ What vibe coding feels like from a designer’s perspective
✨ Q&A + group discussion
About the Speaker
Arseni Harkunou is a product designer with over 15 years of experience and the founder of STILL HUMAN, a product development agency specializing in precision medicine and healthcare, trusted by companies such as Illumina, Grail, Invitae, Twist Bioscience, and others. Most recently, he led product design and human factors at Cleerly, an AI-powered software-as-a-medical-device company delivering personalized cardiac health insights.
Arseni also hosts the Product Craft podcast, where he speaks with multidisciplinary leaders about craft, product building, and what it means to create thoughtful work in a rapidly changing technological landscape.