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Lesson 10 – Gemini Canvas UI Design

This lesson demonstrates how to design a simple user interface with Gemini's Canvas feature.

1. Plan the Layout

  1. Sketch the desired interface components.
  2. Use Gemini Canvas to describe each component in natural language.
  3. Review the generated layout and iterate as needed.
flowchart TD
    A[User Prompt] --> B[Gemini Canvas]
    B --> C[Component HTML]
    C --> D[Rendered UI]

2. Generate Components with Python

def generate_ui_prompt(component: str) -> str:
    """Generate a simple Gemini prompt for a UI component.

    This method returns a prompt string that can be used with Gemini Canvas to create a UI element.

    Args:
        component (str): The name of the component to generate.

    Returns:
        str: A formatted prompt string for Gemini Canvas.

    Raises:
        ValueError: If component is empty.

    Examples:
        >>> generate_ui_prompt("button")
        'Create a primary button labeled Submit.'
    """
    if not component:
        raise ValueError("component cannot be empty")
    return f"Create a primary {component} labeled Submit."

3. Build a Basic Interface

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
  <head>
    <meta charset="UTF-8" />
    <title>Gemini Canvas UI</title>
  </head>
  <body>
    <button id="submitBtn">Submit</button>
  </body>
</html>

The screenshot below shows the rendered button:

Gemini Canvas UI Screenshot

Summary

Using Gemini Canvas, developers can describe interface elements in plain language and quickly iterate on the design.

Designing UI elements with Gemini Canvas lets you translate natural language into functional components. Building on Lesson 09 – Case Study: Iterative Design of a Custom Assessment Form, which showcased step-by-step refinement, the final Lesson 11 – n8n Workflow Automation connects these interfaces to automated workflows.