Back

Take-home design task · cmux (YC-backed) · 2026

Show the terminal. Don’t describe it.

cmux is a terminal for running a bunch of AI coding agents at once. Its site listed features instead of showing them, so for a take-home I redesigned and rebuilt it.

Role
Visual + interaction design, front-end build
Industry
Developer tools · AI
Type
Take-home design task
Built with
Claude, Vercel
Live
cmux-redesign.vercel.app ↗
10 → 4bulleted features regrouped into four shown onesWhere it comes fromcmux.com listed ten features as equal-weight bullets. The redesign groups them under one question, “what needs my attention right now?”, into four features you watch instead of read.
4features demoed with real product footageWhat it coversEach of the four features plays its own product clip in the redesign (see the feature player below).
Livedesigned, built with Claude and deployed on VercelWhere to see itcmux-redesign.vercel.app. I designed it and built the front end with Claude. It was a take-home design task, not adopted by cmux.

Overview

About cmux.

cmux is a free, open-source Mac terminal (built on Ghostty) made for running a bunch of AI coding agents at once. It’s made by Manaflow, a YC-backed team.

This was a take-home: I redesigned and rebuilt their site so it shows the product instead of just listing it.

Interactive demo

Your turn: run the agent

A working copy of cmux, from my real session

+
Add celebratory emoji to heading
Add celebratory emoji to h…×
● Reverted: the heading in app/page.tsx is back to “Tell us the video you want to make”.
✻ Sautéed for 4s · done 6:55 PM
›
▸▸ auto mode on (shift+tab to cycle) · esc to interrupt
Create Next App×
http://localhost:3001/
STUCK ON WHAT TO FILM?

Tell us the video you want to make

The more specific you are, the better your ideas will be. We’ll give you 4 ideas, each with a hook, an angle, and how to film it.

HOW IT WORKS

1Describe your video idea.

2Click Go. We come up with 4 ideas.

Try

The problem

A great product, described in bullets.

Before: the original cmux.com hero, a feature list After: the redesigned hero with the product running cmux.comRedesign
Drag to compare the first screen, same 1440 × 900 viewport.

Each problem, and the move that answers it

cmux.com
Redesign
Ten bullets, all equal weight
One question, four shown features
The product sat below the fold
The product runs in the hero
Proof behind a long FAQ
Stars, license and agents under the hero

The real problem

Three things were holding the site back.

Problem 01Told, not shown

The site described cmux in bullets instead of showing it running.

Problem 02No story

Ten features sat side by side, with nothing tying them together.

Problem 03No proof up top

Nothing answered “is this legit, and will it work with my agent?” before you scrolled.

Round one

I presented it the first time, and he hated it.

Yep. The CEO did not like my first design, and he gave me a whole list of design critiques. Honestly, that hurt at first, so I went back in.

Not alignedCenter thisHover feels off
Round one, recreated. His notes: alignment, centering, hovers.

The moves

So I made three moves.

01 · Lead

Open on the product

Fixes told, not shown. Developers trust what they can see running more than any headline.

My real cmux session: an agent edits code on the left, and the result shows up on the right.

02 · Organize

One question, four answers

Fixes ten features, no story. One question, “what needs my attention right now?”, turns ten features into a story you can follow.

In motion: each feature plays its own product clip instead of a sentence.

03 · Trust

Proof where the doubt is

Fixes no proof up top. Stars, license and every supported agent answer “is this legit, and will it work with my agent?” before anyone scrolls.

What we work with

Claude Code
Codex
Cursor
Gemini
Aider
Goose
OpenCode
Cline
Amp
Kiro

Live site

Then I built it. Scroll it for yourself.

  1. 110 → 4Bulleted features, regrouped and shown
  2. 24 clipsReal product footage, no mockups
  3. 3BuiltWith Claude
  4. 4DeployedOn Vercel
  5. ✓Livecmux-redesign.vercel.app
DesignedHero, feature story, proof strip
BuiltFront end with Claude, deployed on Vercel
StatusTake-home design task, not adopted by cmux
cmux-redesign.vercel.appOpen ↗

Scroll inside the window, or open it full size.

Key learnings

What I’m taking with me.

That first round (the one he hated) honestly made me so much better at the details.

It made me super nitpicky.What needs to be aligned, what needs to be centered, and what’s a pixel off. I started seeing all of it.
Hover animations matter.I went through every hover and asked what actually looks good, and what doesn’t.
My attention to detail leveled up.Round two, he loved it (and admitted he really didn’t like the first one).
“This is actually really good.”
The CEO, the second time around

Next up

What I’d test next.

Does showing beat telling?A/B the product-first hero vs. the list, on Download clicks.
Is the mono headline too loud?A five-second test: do skimmers read a sans headline faster?
Talk to the teamA take-home is a start. I’d love to hear what the team knows about their visitors.

This is just a snapshot! Want the long version? Grab 30 minutes with me.