Unlock the Power of AI for Your Work and Your Team
In today’s rapidly evolving digital landscape, artificial intelligence (AI) is constantly a focus of conversation in our team. Many AI tools have emerged, aiming to either assist us in optimising our processes or transform the way we create and deliver user-centric experiences.
As a design studio, it’s important for us to stay at the forefront of industry trends. This allows us to reassess how we could improve productivity, streamline workflows and automate repetitive tasks while meeting the evolving needs of clients and users.
As AI tools continue to advance, we crafted a process to help us choose the right ones for our team so we can become better designers for our clients. This article outlines our approach, and aims to provide insights for you and your team to make informed decisions on which AI tools are most suitable for your team and business needs.
1. Attend workshops and/or seminars
Effort to implement: 2/5
Time needed: An hour to a few days
This approach seems like a no-brainer, but it is one that certainly needs to be highlighted (or served as a reminder). We often get too absorbed with our daily tasks that we neglect to allocate time for further learning. It might even seem impractical to take time off during work hours to attend workshops or seminars. However, setting aside time for upskilling is crucial. While taking time away from our daily tasks to attend these events may appear unproductive, it comes with greater benefits.
For a remote team like ours with minimum exposure to serendipitous conversations that can spark new discoveries and different perspectives, attending workshops and seminars is part of our effort to go out and meet and listen to others to keep us learning and growing.
As a business, we recognise that it may be challenging to figure out an appropriate time for upskilling, as peak and off-peak periods vary throughout the year. If the topic of the workshop is important for us to attend, we try our best to plan and allocate time strategically around it.
2. Monitor trends
Effort to implement: 1/5
Time needed: 5 minutes or more, whenever anyone comes across valuable content
In addition to attending workshops and seminars, we continuously stay updated through articles, videos and AI-related content on social media. This includes news articles, expert opinions, new inventions and more. Whenever we find valuable content, we share it with everyone on our AI Slack channel, which is dedicated solely to AI information.
And because we trust each other to assess and evaluate what is relevant to our work and our team, we know that what is shared there has been curated for both substance and relevance. This helps the team to not be overwhelmed by the avalanche of AI news that is out there and helps us focus on what is applicable to the team.
This practice keeps our team aligned with current AI trends and enhances our collective knowledge about AI. It ensures that the entire team progresses together as a unit!
3. Research and analyse, experiment and prototype relevant AI tools
Effort to implement: 3.5/5
Time needed: 3–4 weeks
Once you’ve attended talks and workshops and made it a habit to monitor trends, you’ll then be able to select a few AI tools that are relevant for your work and industry. This is where it really gets interesting!
Manpower and time allocation can be challenging due to ongoing client projects, but we’re happy to share that only one team member is needed, and one month is sufficient to execute this! I took on this project myself and studied a few AI tools — Framer, Uizard, WIX Studio and UX Pilot, an AI-assistant tool. I completed the research and evaluation phase within 17 days (that would be two working weeks and three days in total). Here’s the breakdown of the planned timeline:
- 2 days: Competitor and landscape analysis
- 12 days: Experiment on all AI tools (including prototyping)
- 5 days: Analyse findings
Following this, I spent an additional 10 days creating a detailed report that entails the advantages and disadvantages, and included recommendations for the company. This report was shared internally, giving the team time to absorb the information. In total, this took 27 working days (approximately a month). Taking time for a mini project like this could provide you and your team with much deeper insights into the world of AI!
4. Get the team to try out the AI tools
Effort to implement: 1.5/5
Time needed: One week for crafting the session and one day for facilitating the session
At 55 Minutes, we prioritise learning through action and try our best to embody the principle of walking the talk. We believe that the best way to understand the world of AI technology is to get hands-on experience. This helps us gain first-hand insights into AI functionalities in the field of UX and UI, access its advantages and disadvantages, and determine the feasibility of integrating AI into our processes where it makes sense.
If your team has more time to spare (as we did), you could take up a notch by designing a knowledge-sharing session for the entire team. This was what I did, taking an additional week to craft it. The objective of the session was to allow everyone to experiment with the tools and share their opinions, ensuring that my research and insights were unbiased and inclusive. This session not only expanded the team’s knowledge of AI but also fostered a unified, comprehensive understanding of the tools, making it a win-win for everyone involved. I highly recommend opting for this if additional time is available!
5. Dig deeper into an AI tool before team adoption
Effort to implement: 2/5
Time needed: 3–4 weeks
Having agreed to explore Framer further, we are now looking into how we can adopt the tool in our process, by testing it on one of our current internal projects.
Similar to point 3 above, only one team member is needed. This time, I dug deep into that one tool alone. I took about 3 weeks to import the designs onto Framer and test out its full capabilities, do a cost-benefit analysis and dig deeper into the technical aspects of the tool - such as backup and version controls, research on data handling practices, privacy features and more. This reduces the need for every team member to learn to work a new tool on their own, because we have clarity on exactly how the tool can make our work efficient and effective.
Conclusion
Now that AI has ingrained itself in our lives, staying updated on its developments is essential and an ongoing process - both personally and professionally - so that we can be better designers and improve our services for our clients. It can be daunting to figure out where to start given the vast amount of information available out there. We hope our approach can simplify this journey of continuous learning and adaptation for you and your team.
If you’re curious about how we are integrating AI into our work and want to speak to us on our process, email us at hello@55mins.com.
Elaine does UI/UX design at 55 Minutes. Inspired by architecture, art, fashion, nature, photography, and people, Elaine’s approach to design is to tap into what makes us human — our emotions. She believes good design involves understanding who she’s designing for, and how design makes them feel. For her to be pixel-perfect in her work, she needs a good breakfast. Coffee is a must too.
