Ryo Lu built his own operating system. In a browser. For fun.

Cursor's Head of Design reveals why he evolved from being a "sponge" (absorbing everyone's input) and started building playgrounds instead.

We talk burnout, creative freedom, and why your weird side project might be the most important thing you build.

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CHAPTERS:
00:00 - "I've been lying to myself"
00:47 - The Front Page generation
01:16 - Becoming a sponge at Notion
02:23 - Why designers should code (differently)
03:18 - The fog of war metaphor
04:39 - What is RyoOS?
05:17 - From Notion's constraints to Cursor's freedom
07:39 - "It's like constant flow state"
09:39 - Stop asking permission
10:60 - Building in days vs. weeks
12:11 - The 16-year-olds building the future
14:50 - Your playground is already in your head

PLAYGROUNDS MENTIONED:
Sam Peitz experiments: https://x.com/samdape
Lee Black: https://x.com/mrblackstudio
Kat the Poet Engineer: https://x.com/poetengineer__
Tatiana Tsiguleva: https://x.com/ciguleva

SPECIAL THANKS:
Sam Chapman: https://x.com/editedbysam
Mapal Berenson: https://www.youtube.com/@mapal
Bernabe Bolanos: https://www.youtube.com/@BernabeBolanos
Adam Stewart: https://www.instagram.com/adnastu/
Tom Fox: https://catalog.tomfox.site/

LINKS:
UX Tools Newsletter: https://uxtools.co
Follow Ryo: https://x.com/ryolu_
Try Cursor: https://cursor.com
See RyoOS: http://os.ryo.lu/

FOLLOW ME:
Instagram: https://instagram.com/itsdesignertom
X / Twitter: https://x.com/designertom_
LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/tommygeoco
TikTok: https://tiktok.com/@designertom
Threads: https://threads.net/itsdesignertom

AUDIO VERSION:
Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3zDPTGHDSHgBekUxZQxUAN
Listen on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/state-of-play/id1829478829