Extendyour limits.

Your ideas have always been limited by the skills you have and the time it takes to learn new ones. AI changes that. Across ten live modules you’ll go from how AI actually works to a working proof of concept, learning every method on one real product, with me guiding you along the way.

Register interest
you’re in the pipe, five by five

Ten live, hands-on modules across four stages

Each stage builds on the last, taking you from using AI for research all the way to a working proof of concept. You’ll apply every method you learn to a working course project.

Stage 1

Foundations

Understand AI and learn to brief it.

  1. AI technology foundations
  2. Research with AI
Stage 2

Design

Turn research into an interactive prototype.

  1. Design workflows with AI
  2. Concept design with AI
  3. Designing interactively
  4. Designing with a design system
Stage 3

Specialise

Make AI work with your methods.

  1. Building AI assistants
  2. Building AI skills
Stage 4

Build

Turn your design into working code.

  1. Creating a specification for Claude Code
  2. Creating a proof of concept in Claude Code
If you put your mind to it, you can accomplish anything

Learn by building a real product

You practise every method on Young Savers, a savings app for teenagers and the parents who top them up. You start with research in module 2 and finish with a working proof of concept on your phone in module 10.

Everyone builds the same product, so you can focus on the methods, compare approaches and then bring them to your own work.

it’s the thing that gets you to the thing
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Young Savers: from research to working code. Built with Claude Design and Claude Code.

How the course works

Learn the theory and put it to work in the same session. Sessions mix teaching, workshops and mini hackathons on a fixed weekly schedule, so the momentum holds, and I review your work as you build.

  1. Leg 01 · Pre-flight

    Starts with a diagnostic

    A short questionnaire, then a 30-minute call to plan your route before module one.

  2. Leg 02 · Take-off

    Taught like a hackathon

    Learn a method, then use it straight away on the course project.

  3. Leg 03 · Cruise

    One-to-one or small group

    A fixed weekly schedule: one-to-one once or twice a week, or a small group of five or six.

  4. Leg 04 · Radio

    Me on Slack

    Questions between sessions? Message me directly, and I’ll help you through.

Darren, aka ProtoPilot

Who is ProtoPilot?

I’m Darren, aka ProtoPilot. I’ve been a designer for 35 years, and for the last 10 I’ve taught design, tools and process.

  1. Late ’90sFlash games and advergames: ten years of interaction and motion
  2. 2016ProtoPilot launches on YouTube, teaching advanced prototyping
  3. ProtoPioneerProtoPie’s first official evangelist
  4. TeamsTeaching prototyping at Microsoft, Meta, Channel 4 and more
  5. NowDesigning with AI

I’ve led teams on products including Windows 11, Lloyds and NatWest banking, Channel 4’s streaming app and Amazon’s smart home devices. For the last three years I’ve used AI on commercial projects to research, design, prototype and build. Now I teach the methods I use, review your work myself, and answer questions on Slack between sessions.

Taught teams at
MicrosoftMetaChannel 4NectarSquarespacePipedrive
Designed for
Windows 11LloydsNatWestNectarChannel 4AmazonEA

Training for designers, PMs or both

I teach the whole product team, in part or together. Designers and product managers can each take their own track, or the team can learn side by side. Either way it’s the same AI-native way of working, weighted to the role, so everyone can build together.

Product designer

Research, prototyping, design systems and building with AI, across ten hands-on modules. One-to-one or in a small group, from £1,950 + VAT.

See the designer track

Product manager

You're strong on product. This track leans into the design and build craft, so you make the thing yourself instead of speccing it. Coming soon.

See the PM track

Teams

Designers, PMs or both. I teach the whole team together, live, so everyone comes out working with AI the same way.

Bring it to your team
Register interest

What past students think

M
“I'm finding this course really interesting. As someone who's worked across product and service design for years, I especially appreciate how it organizes concepts and best practices into a clear, usable structure rather than just theory. Darren is a great guide, and I'm excited to keep progressing.”
MarcellaSenior Product Designer
V
“Really enjoying the format so far. I appreciate your approach and specific techniques holding it all together. It's a very overwhelming space, and you're cutting through the noise in a personalised way.”
VenHead of UX
S
“Super impressed with Darren's ProtoPilot course so far. I had tried using AI for prototyping so assumed I would get most out of the more technical hands-on stuff. But the first few lessons framing my experience of using AI and introducing the right mental models have already proved to be invaluable in how to think about AI as a tool for design. Highly recommend Darren as teacher!”
Stuart CurranPrincipal Design Consultant, ThoughtWorks
I feel the need, the need for speed

Find out how to enrol

NEXT GROUP FORMING REGISTER INTEREST

I run the course one-to-one and in small groups. Register your interest and I'll get in touch personally with the next dates, the price and how to enrol.

  • A personal reply from me, not a newsletter
  • Dates, price and how to enrol
  • No commitment until you decide to join

Places are limited, since I work with each person directly.

a powerful ally, AI is