In the rapidly evolving landscape of AI and large language models (LLMs), many professions are re-evaluating their future. Especially as new startups are emerging daily to replace engineers, product managers, designers and other professions.

I have some loose notes from a designer’s perspective. Having recently written about how design contributes to beautiful (successful) products, I am optimistic today and emphasise the growing role of designers.

I

The emergence of LLMs capable of writing code and automating software development raises the question of how companies can gain a competitive advantage.

I believe that overall business strategy, supporting systems and user experience will become the moat. And not the ability to ship new features quickly.

Designers who develop a deep understanding of AI capabilities will play a critical role in planning and implementing these strategic decisions.

II

It seems that people are increasingly relying on AI tools to get perfect summaries, answers or solutions instead of searching for original sources.

In an API-first internet, the user interface will become the battleground for supremacy. The winners will be those whose interfaces integrate seamlessly into existing workflows and who introduce novel intereactions that users enjoy engaging with.

Designers who can empathise with users’ problems and workflows will be the ones who discover these novel interactions that customers ultimately want to engage with.

III

As AI takes on more routine tasks, the value of human input shifts towards taste. In a world where AI-generated content becomes commonplace, taste becomes a scarce and invaluable commodity.

But as Steve Jobs once said, “I don’t think my taste in aesthetics is that much different from a lot of other people’s. The difference is that I just get to be really stubborn about making things as good as we all know they can be. That’s the only difference.”

What does great taste look like in the AI era?

I don’t have the answer to that, but a good place to develop a taste for the AI era is to join an established company with significant existing data and product workflows that could be improved by recent AI advancements.

Rather than joining a startup to develop a new AI foundational model, I think designers are currently best placed to improve existing products with AI-based workflows.