Design is moving to code

The release of Claude Opus 4.5 in November 2025 marked a turning point for the design industry. The cheapest way to imagine a new interface used to be to paint it first (and build it later). AI agents are now so capable at coding that it’s becoming cheaper to explore new ideas by building them than by painting pixels on a canvas. With that, the design process, the loop of exploring possibilities and refining what works, is moving from pixels to code.

This shift is transforming how we work, and it’s going to get uncomfortable for a lot of us. But as the cost of trying ideas falls, there’s more room for design to be distinct and expressive. We can explore interactions, experiences, and expressions of a brand that once cost too much to pursue. We can build our own tooling and throw it away when it’s done its job. The era of design centered on pushing pixels is coming to an end—but design itself is becoming broader and deeper than ever.