AI Prototyping: All Things Product with Teresa & Petra
We’re nearing the end of our summer break and I wanted to take a moment to share what was clearly the most popular episode of the All Things Product podcast this summer: AI Prototyping. Given the interest in this topic in the product world in general (and even in our own programming at Product at Heart), this is not surprising at all.
Find the show notes, key takeaways, and resources below. And if you haven’t already, please consider subscribing on YouTube, Spotify, or Apple.
AI prototyping tools are mushrooming—Replit, V0, Bolt, WindSurf, and more—but do they actually help with discovery work? In this episode of All Things Product, we discuss how AI-powered tools can supercharge assumption testing, where they still fall short, and what that means for product teams today.
From building chat interfaces with custom data to testing leadership self-assessment tools, Teresa and I share our hands-on experiences—what worked, what was frustrating, and how these tools can fit into continuous discovery habits.
Whether you're a product manager, designer, or engineer wondering if these tools are a game-changer or just hype, this conversation breaks it down with real talk and real use cases.
What you’ll learn:
✅ Why “free to build” doesn’t mean “no cost”
✅ How AI prototyping tools help with assumption testing
✅ Common pitfalls (and how to avoid them)
✅ Why engineering skills still matter in a no-code world
✅ The types of prototypes that are perfect for AI tools
✅ How these tools change team collaboration and speed
Key takeaways:
✅ AI tools can help build usable prototypes in hours—not weeks.
✅ These tools are great for fast, interactive assumption tests.
✅ You still need engineering know-how to troubleshoot or guide LLMs effectively.
✅ Product teams benefit most when they build and test together.
✅ Even failed prototypes offer valuable learning.
Episode quote:
“Even if the cost to build goes to zero, if you keep building the wrong thing, you're still wasting your life.” – Teresa Torres
Resources & Links:
Follow Teresa Torres: https://ProductTalk.org
Follow Petra Wille: https://Petra-Wille.com
Mentioned in this episode:
Large language model (LLM): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Large_language_model
ChatGPT: https://chatgpt.com/
Claude (Anthropic API): https://www.anthropic.com/api
Teresa’s Continuous Interviewing Course (where she introduced a custom chat interface app, allowing students to interact with a ChatGPT-style tool powered by her own prompts and proprietary data): https://learn.producttalk.org/continuous-interviewing
Petra’s PMwheel – a Compass for the Product Manager Development Journey: https://www.petra-wille.com/blog/the-pmwheel-a-compass-for-the-product-manager-development-journey
Vibe coding: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vibe_coding
Teresa’s Assumption Testing Course: https://learn.producttalk.org/assumption-testing
Jeff Patton’s drawing of the three people having different pictures in their head about one thing: https://www.producttalk.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Jeff-Patton-drawing-with-the-three-people-having-different-pictures-in-their-head-about-one-thing.webp
Replit: https://replit.com/
V0.dev: https://v0.dev/
Bolt: https://bolt.new/
Lovable: https://lovable.dev/
WindSurf:https://windsurf.com/editor