The designer who cloned himself with Cursor

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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.

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