Dall-E and Me:
Dall-E and Me:
Dall-E and Me:
AN AI DESIGN THEORY
AN AI DESIGN THEORY
DELIVERABLES
DELIVERABLES
DELIVERABLES
WEB APP, THESIS
STUDIO
STUDIO
OCAD UNIVERSITY
ROLE
DESIGNER
SERVICE
SERVICE
SERVICE
UI/UX, RESEARCH
Overview
Overview
OUR CRAFT MOVING FORWARD IS UNCERTAIN AND FULL OF NEW CHALLENGES. I TOOK ON THIS PROJECT FOR YOUNG DESIGNERS NAVIGATING THE NEW ENVIRONMENT OF DESIGN - ONE THAT USES AI.
This project is part design methodology, part philosophy paper, and part UX concept. In my final year at OCAD University, I investigated how designers can work effectively with AI image generation tools, developing an original prompting framework I called component prompting.
The research involved stakeholder analysis, a two-session workshop with creative participants, and culminated in a UI concept called Chemist, a visual interface for AI prompting. The project was awarded the Nora E. Vaughn Best Student Work Medal for my graduating year, and some of its ideas have since been incorporated into OCAD's curriculum.
PERSONA 2 - THE WRITER
I am the Writer. I am pensive, and meditative. I spend countless hours playing with words and obsess over their interplay. The best part of my process is when inspiration hits, and I know in my soul it is perfect.
The Writer gave me the longest prompts. They really struggled to simplify their ideas. This is obviously because their craft is wordsmithing, so every word is important to them. When working with AI, the Writer has a need to be able to focus on the most important parts of prompting.PERSONA 3- THE DESIGNERS
We are the designers. We are a collective, constantly under the flux and pull of each other’s ideas. Our process is very structured, compared to other creatives. Sometimes, the sheer volume of ideas we generate cannot get the right amount of attention they deserve.
What I am about to say will surprise no one. Designers, are a MESS. They cling to anything that will give them some kind of structure in their process, whether it’s to-do lists or personal assistants. This reflects on a need to be able to quickly and accurately narrow down the best ideas for design briefs because we are constantly under a time crunch.PERSONA 4- THE CHEF
I am the Chef. My profession teeters on the knife’s edge between perfection and performability. I am constantly under pressure to outdo myself with every deadline. If I have a creative block, I have to work very hard to fight my way out of it. My medium is known to all, but practiced by few. This is my dilemma.
Like The Painter, The Chef has a need for novel ideas and generative power. And something very strange happened during this interview. When The Chef was tired of prompting simple dish names, they started typing in recipe ingredients...
And shockingly, the AI understood this, and the dishes they were trying to create. I call this component prompting.
This is how I refined my hypothesis.PERSONA 1 - THE PAINTER
I am the Painter. I do not primarily think in words, as visuals are where my interest lies. Sometimes it is hard to put what I am looking for into words. The worst part of my process is when I am forced to overwork my ideas in the ideation phase. I wish I could just flow.
In comparison, the Painters prompts were quite short. They primarily used the AI to ideate new concepts. For example, the painter gave me the simplest prompt, “Landscape of Hell”. When they saw that the AI gave them back something without fire and brimstone, they were delighted.
Ultimately, The Painter has a need for new sources of inspiration, previously unseen by the world. Their creativity is highly exploratory.
Research Phase
My thesis prof needed me to develop an accurate framework of users and personas in order for me to proceed with this thesis. My topic was regarded as unusual and divisive, so the case study absolutely had to be there. During this phase, I created a prompting clinic to study how my peers used AI (Dall-E 2 in this case, my how we've already advanced!)
My dual prompting clinics were how I created my user needs frameworks, and personas.
My thesis prof needed me to develop an accurate framework of users and personas in order for me to proceed with this thesis. My topic was regarded as unusual and divisive, so the case study absolutely had to be there. During this phase, I created a prompting clinic to study how my peers used AI (Dall-E 2 in this case, my how we've already advanced!)
My dual prompting clinics were how I created my user needs frameworks, and personas.
PERSONA 1 - THE PAINTER
I am the Painter. I do not primarily think in words, as visuals are where my interest lies. Sometimes it is hard to put what I am looking for into words. The worst part of my process is when I am forced to overwork my ideas in the ideation phase. I wish I could just flow.
In comparison, the Painters prompts were quite short. They primarily used the AI to ideate new concepts. For example, the painter gave me the simplest prompt, “Landscape of Hell”. When they saw that the AI gave them back something without fire and brimstone, they were delighted.
Ultimately, The Painter has a need for new sources of inspiration, previously unseen by the world. Their creativity is highly exploratory.PERSONA 2 - THE WRITER
I am the Writer. I am pensive, and meditative. I spend countless hours playing with words and obsess over their interplay. The best part of my process is when inspiration hits, and I know in my soul it is perfect.
The Writer gave me the longest prompts. They really struggled to simplify their ideas. This is obviously because their craft is wordsmithing, so every word is important to them. When working with AI, the Writer has a need to be able to focus on the most important parts of prompting.PERSONA 3- THE DESIGNERS
We are the designers. We are a collective, constantly under the flux and pull of each other’s ideas. Our process is very structured, compared to other creatives. Sometimes, the sheer volume of ideas we generate cannot get the right amount of attention they deserve.
What I am about to say will surprise no one. Designers, are a MESS. They cling to anything that will give them some kind of structure in their process, whether it’s to-do lists or personal assistants. This reflects on a need to be able to quickly and accurately narrow down the best ideas for design briefs because we are constantly under a time crunch.PERSONA 4- THE CHEF
I am the Chef. My profession teeters on the knife’s edge between perfection and performability. I am constantly under pressure to outdo myself with every deadline. If I have a creative block, I have to work very hard to fight my way out of it. My medium is known to all, but practiced by few. This is my dilemma.
Like The Painter, The Chef has a need for novel ideas and generative power. And something very strange happened during this interview. When The Chef was tired of prompting simple dish names, they started typing in recipe ingredients...
And shockingly, the AI understood this, and the dishes they were trying to create. I call this component prompting.
This is how I refined my hypothesis.
A Unique Observation
I INTERVIEWED A ROBUST VARIETY OF CREATIVES, FROM DIFFERENT DISCIPLINES IN ORDER TO GLEAN HOW WE ALL LEVERAGE AI.
One of my more eclectic choices for interviews was with a well renowned chef from my hometown. I asked him to use Dall-E for whatever he could think of. Strangely, instead of typing in desired results he instead listed out ingredients into the prompter, in the order they would be used in recipes. Dall-E responded with the most novel and accurate results I had seen yet, and gave the Chef inspiration for plating.
WHAT IF WE WERE ABLE TO REPLICATE THIS FOR DESIGN?
One of my more eclectic choices for interviews was with a well renowned chef from my hometown. I asked him to use Dall-E for whatever he could think of.
Strangely, instead of typing in desired results he instead listed out ingredients into the prompter, in the order they would be used in recipes. Dall-E responded with the most novel and accurate results I had seen yet, and gave the Chef inspiration for plating.
WHAT IF WE WERE ABLE TO REPLICATE THIS FOR DESIGN?
Gastronomy
I was very inspired by my Chef, as well as his ability to bend Dall-E to his will by simply reordering the ingredients in a list format in his prompt. It was here I realized that prompting itself is a bit like Chemistry.
My thesis prof was again, skeptical about this method. When I generated 100 riffs on classical mid-century modern furniture pieces, he became a believer.
Thus, the chemist UI was born. what if we were simply able to put stress on certain words in a prompt in a visual way, instead of just telling Grok or Claude more emphasis on this or that?
I was very inspired by my Chef, as well as his ability to bend Dall-E to his will by simply reordering the ingredients in a list format in his prompt. It was here I realized that prompting itself is a bit like Chemistry.
My thesis prof was again, skeptical about this method. When I generated 100 riffs on classical mid-century modern furniture pieces, he became a believer.
Thus, the chemist UI was born. what if we were simply able to put stress on certain words in a prompt in a visual way, instead of just telling Grok or Claude more emphasis on this or that?
Visually Organized
I also wanted a way for designers to see how their habits overlap. This screen allows users to click and drag images into collections, and then study their prompting habits in order to create pieces accurate to their personal aesthetics.
I also wanted a way for designers to see how their habits overlap. This screen allows users to click and drag images into collections, and then study their prompting habits in order to create pieces accurate to their personal aesthetics.
The Future is Now!!!
While working on this project I used Google Co-labs a lot to host my own AI instance of Dall-E 2.
This was in 2023, when creating your own AI agents wasn't even heard of yet. I wanted to work in a screen for all the dev-signers out there to be able to edit their code. I pride myself on being future oriented, and I'm glad to see now with the rise of Claude Code and OpenClaw that more and more folks want to be in full control of their own agents, on their own system.
While working on this project I used Google Co-labs a lot to host my own AI instance of Dall-E 2.
This was in 2023, when creating your own AI agents wasn't even heard of yet. I wanted to work in a screen for all the dev-signers out there to be able to edit their code. I pride myself on being future oriented, and I'm glad to see now with the rise of Claude Code and OpenClaw that more and more folks want to be in full control of their own agents, on their own system.
A Wee Demo
A Wee Demo
A quick look at how Chemist works.
