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Know your unknowns · Pre-implementation

Four design directions

When you can't describe the design you want, don't describe one — ask for four incompatible ones rendered live, and let your gut do the specifying. Reacting is easier than imagining.

The prompt
“I want a review-queue dashboard for Acme but I have no visual taste and don't know what's possible. Make me one HTML page with 4 wildly different design directions so I can react to them.”
What Claude produced

Same data, four philosophies. Every frame below renders the identical review queue — five videos awaiting review in Acme — so the only variable is the design. Under each frame, tap the chips for anything you'd steal or skip; your picks assemble a reply at the bottom of the page.

The shared dataset: 5 pending reviews · 4 reviewers (MK, DR, LT, JB) · statuses: in review / needs changes / waiting on reviewer / approved w/ notes · 23 open comments · 14 reviews cleared this week · avg turnaround 6.2h
DIRECTION 1 / 4

Dense ops console

“Your review queue is an operational system. Show everything, waste nothing, let the anomalies pop.”

acme.app/ops/review-queue
ACME/REVIEW-OPS TEAM: LAUNCH-CONTENT · UPDATED 14:32
Pending
5 +2 today
Avg turnaround
6.2h −0.8h
Cleared / 7d
14 on pace
Oldest waiting
2d 4h SLA 48h
IDVideoLenReviewerCmtsStatusAge
VR-2214Q3 launch teaser — v40:47MK · Kowalski12NEEDS CHANGES2h
VR-2213Onboarding walkthrough — final3:12DR · Raman3IN REVIEW5h
VR-2209Customer story: Halvorsen Co.2:05LT · Torres0WAITING1d 6h
VR-2206Homepage hero loop — v90:15MK · Kowalski7APPROVED*1d 8h
VR-2201Podcast clip — ep. 321:28JB · Beck1IN REVIEW2d 4h
DIRECTION 2 / 4

Airy editorial cards

“Reviewing creative work should feel calm. One number that matters, then the queue as a reading list.”

acme.app/studio/queue
5
videos waiting on a decision
14 cleared this week —
your fastest week since May.
MK
Q3 launch teaser — v4
0:47 · Maya Kowalski · 12 comments · uploaded 2h ago
needs changes
DR
Onboarding walkthrough — final
3:12 · Dev Raman · 3 comments · uploaded 5h ago
being reviewed now
LT
Customer story: Halvorsen Co.
2:05 · Lena Torres · no comments yet · uploaded yesterday
waiting on Lena
MK
Homepage hero loop — v9
0:15 · Maya Kowalski · 7 comments · uploaded yesterday
approved, with notes
JB
Podcast clip — ep. 32
1:28 · Jonah Beck · 1 comment · uploaded two days ago
being reviewed now
DIRECTION 3 / 4

Kanban / timeline hybrid

“A review is a thing that moves. Show where each video sits in the pipeline, and how long it's been sitting.”

acme.app/board/review-queue
Review pipeline — Launch content 14 cleared this week · avg 6.2h to decision
Waiting / in review3
Onboarding walkthrough — final
DR 3:12 · 5h in 3✎
Customer story: Halvorsen Co.
LT 2:05 · 1d 6h in 0✎
Podcast clip — ep. 32
JB 1:28 · 2d 4h in 1✎
Needs changes1
Q3 launch teaser — v4
MK 0:47 · 2h in 12✎
Approved w/ notes1
Homepage hero loop — v9
MK 0:15 · 1d 8h in 7✎
Time in queue — red-flagged past 24h
now 12h 24h 36h 48h+ teaser v4 onboarding Halvorsen hero v9 ep. 32
DIRECTION 4 / 4

Brutalist mono terminal

“No decoration, no chrome. A queue is a list; read it top to bottom and get out.”

acme.app/q — keyboard-first
acme :: review-queue :: launch-content
════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
PENDING=5 CLEARED_7D=14 AVG_TURNAROUND=6.2h OLDEST=2d4h !SLA
#titlelenrevcmtstatusage
1q3-launch-teaser.v40:47MK12[NEEDS-CHANGES]2h
2onboarding-walkthrough.final3:12DR3[IN-REVIEW]5h
3customer-story.halvorsen2:05LT0[WAITING]1d6h
4homepage-hero-loop.v90:15MK7[APPROVED+NOTES]1d8h
5podcast-clip.ep321:28JB1[IN-REVIEW]2d4h
> open 3 — j/k move · o open · a approve · c comment
How to react

Reply with a direction and your steals

You don't have to write a design brief — that's the whole point. Pick the direction whose attitude is right, then name the two or three details worth carrying over from the others. Tap a direction and the chips above; the reply writes itself.


      
    

Paste that back into the chat as-is. Claude will fold the steals into the winning direction and come back with one refined design — which is a far shorter conversation than trying to describe taste you didn't know you had.