I know you haven’t heard it here first, but I’ll be another person to say it. The modern product designer role is changing… and fast.
With the introduction of AI, (at warp speed lol) AI can generate mockups, prototypes, copy - you name it. The production pieces are taken care of. In our world, we believe that product designers who survive this shift will be systems thinkers, facilitators, researchers, strategists, and signal interpreters.
The new wave product designer increasingly becomes the person helping teams learn what direction is actually worth pursuing vs going off to execute.
Things that are getting us excited right now:
AI Skills
Heuristics
AI orchestration
Rapid Iteration
Prompt engineering for product thinking
What’s skills are getting you and your team most excited right now?
@ben@Bryan what am I missing - what other pieces are getting us PUMPED right now?
Okay, this is an incredible line up! It’s a nice reminder that the human judgement pieces don’t go away in these scenarios. I guess technically, they’re more valuable now more than ever
Also, I like how this showcases leaning on communities of practice, another refreshing reminder that we’re all navigating this together & let’s not lose our sense of learning from one another along the way.
My favorite part about this is how ideas can now expand bigger, faster.
I love looking at this from building a video game perspective. I’ve always had some very interesting ideas, and wants out of a video game (I absolutely love zombie games). Before AI, I honestly never thought I’d ever be able to build one.
Now, after experimenting with Claude Building some very simple 2D games. I already know that this is actually something within my reach.
Things that used to take hundreds of thousands of hours are getting compacted and compressed down into something that takes a couple of guys in their garage to do something truly amazing.
Tools will keep improving. AI will improve. Everything software-wise should keep improving at a rapid rate, thus extending even into the physical realm by software enhancements. People who did not have access before to particular technologies, to the resources required to do these larger things, are now possible.
Really, really, really excited to see what the future will bring!
@ben you’re building video games now?! A man of many talents. But in all seriousness, I totally agree with everything you’ve said here, it’s an exciting time!
I’d be curious to our designers / product folks out here – what skills are you deeming as most valuable currently?
High communication skills and imagination! These two sound obvious, but somehow they were underrated as creative skills due to “the latest technology” or the trendy framework from the “X” company. Now having THE powerful tool (AI) in town, the challenge is not about building interfaces only, but how to communicate ideas to build great solutions (systems) and using your imagination to connect needs with opportunities; the discussion now is not about the craft, it is about how far we as designers can connect abilities (creative and technical) to show our new business value. Make sense?
Greatly said. Also, obvious things are never so obvious. There’s an exorbitant amount of “fog” out there, blinding people and spinning them into a daze.
It’s also interesting how understanding things deeply creates a huge amount of leverage, especially within the AI world. Psychology, communication, and even being an opportunist makes this all 10x better.
Haha. Yes…Craft, Taste, Judgment… I guess these “human” words are becoming more like other AI-overused words. These, to me, are just nuances of decisions. Layer whatever human part you want onto it.
It’s funny how this report is calling it the messy middle, but I think that’s just because people don’t really understand their own creative process. Or how it fits in a business. Cyperpunk is rebelling, but it’s not always clear what the rebellion is all about. More like a mood.
games). Before AI, I honestly never thought I’d ever be able to build one.