Carta designers and ChatGPT
The AI powered game changer
When the first photographic images were shown to the world back in the early 19th century, public reaction was a mix of awestruck wonder, coupled with panic and rejection of what was seen by many as ‘the end of creativity’. It was a widely held belief that a scientific, mechanical process had no part to play in artistic expression; something that should be left to human creators.
A similar debate has been raging since ChatGPT was launched toward the end of last year. The difference is the breakneck speed of release and adoption. Photography has had 140 years to gradually become accepted as another creative tool. ChatGPT, on the other hand, first opened up to widespread use with its release by OpenAI at the end of 2022. Within 4 days it had over 1 million users. The lightning speed with which the platform has been picked up around the world is no surprise, when the number of potential applications — beyond simple ‘writing’ and content creation — is so vast.
Chat GPT — what is it, and how does it work?
GPTs (Generative Pre-trained Transformers) are basically machine learning models that can generate natural language responses to user input. Using deep learning algorithms, a GPT analyzes massive amounts of data — such as books and web pages — and is trained on a wide range of topics, enabling it to generate contextually relevant and semantically coherent responses to various prompts. So ChatGPT is not a content ‘creator’, it’s more of a content ‘assembler’. It zips through vast amounts of existing information, grabbing what’s relevant, then compiles it according to the style, length, and other criteria that a user has specified in their prompt.
How Carta designers use the platform
At Carta, our design team encompasses a broad range of skillsets and design technologies; from product and UI design, to illustration, motion design and brand creative. To find out how ChatGPT can be used within our different areas, we got together for a 1 hour session in March to explore using the tool together.
To kick off our session, we discussed ways in which we’ve all been using chatGPT — from helping with coding questions to writing Linkedin endorsements, finding restaurants, and even creating work out plans. The platform can also be used in tandem with other AI platforms such as MidJourney to art direct image making.
One of the recurring uses across the whole design team was using ChatGPT as a ‘support’ tool. As well as giving critical feedback on proposed design solutions, it can be a powerful education resource for learning about the complex domain knowledge needed in order to design a new feature. As a research sourcing tool it can also be invaluable, offering an instant source of references that can be hard to find with a regular internet search. Product designer Haochen Zhang talked about the universal challenge of the ‘blank canvas’ at the start of any design project, and how ChatGPT has proven really useful in kick-starting the design process with instant ideas that can serve as the starting point for further development. It was interesting to note how a platform like this was starting to be used almost like an invaluable co-worker.
Design Technologist Eddie Chen got a perfect description of Carta’s own design system; Ink, over 4 succinct paragraphs that described the benefits of Ink for consistency, flexibility and accessibility of the Carta platform. Gilmar Lira, Design Technologist Lead, drew some similarly impressive results from the prompt, ‘should I exercise my Carta options?’. ChatGPT was careful to state that it wasn’t qualified to offer financial advice, and went on to provide a clearly written guide to the factors to consider before exercising options. The writing style was impressive — jargon free, and easy to follow.
Product Designer Mika Gu talked about how useful the platform is in helping to navigate the complexity of the equity space and its terminology. While a Google search can provide snippets of useful information, ChatGPT does a great job of threading this information together into easily digestible text. As well as giving everyone the tools to learn at their own pace — it also means less pressure on colleagues to provide all the answers.
Breakouts: Brand building with ChatGPT
We wanted to see just how far we could get in creating a brand on the platform using prompts. Our test case was to build a marketing page for a vacuum cleaner. Everything would be generated entirely on ChatGPT — from naming ideas, researching competitors and customer pain points to finding a unique selling point for our new brand. After just 20 minutes of group work we got together to compare results and insights.
The first thing which was surprising was speed. The results that we got from the platform varied in quality and practicality, but there can be no doubt that the quantity of output, and the range of ideas — from taglines to demographic targeted product naming — was way beyond what could be expected from a standard workshop session that begins with a blank whiteboard.
To give an example, one team came out of their session with ‘Metro’; a vacuum cleaner aimed at 30 to 40 year old busy working professionals. ChatGPT had defined a target audience, social media strategy, written contact emails, and even given ideas about bringing organizing consultant Marie Kondo on board as a brand ambassador. Another team worked on a cat friendly device, with ChatGPT adding some clever feline shaped packaging ideas.
One thing all the teams picked up on is how results could swing from impressively detailed answers in the case of some prompts, to very generic in others. It was hard to distinguish a pattern, but in areas such as ideas for marketing campaigns, or positioning strategy it offered competent answers, and when it came to investigating vacuum manufacturer’s for example, the results became more vague.
With our session wrapped up, here are our 3 top takeaways to help other designers take their first steps with ChatGPT:
How designers can use ChatGPT: 3 top takeaways
- Editing and refining copy
ChatGPT can be a useful tool for designers who lack a dedicated editing resource. It can also be invaluable as an aid to crafting better UX; streamlining your content to enhance your users experience. The real strength of the platform, as opposed to other online editing tools, is in its ability to style its output to align with your brand’s tone of voice. Get creative and experiment with your prompts. - Facilitating subject matter research
If you lack access to subject matter experts in a particular field, then ChatGPT can help to define terms, and break down complex subjects. Having constant access to a dedicated ‘helper’ can really boost your output, but bear in mind that it can also be susceptible to a very human trait: the ability to appear to know what it’s talking about, while actually having no idea. This can manifest as very specific details which are completely false — a trait known as ‘AI hallucination’. So, while it may be harder than ever to stick to the old maxims of content creation — know your subject and check your sources — it’s still worth bearing in mind before copying and pasting anything that will ultimately be shared in your company’s name. - Jump start the design process
The key to any design process is getting started. While this may sound obvious, every designer at some point will know that daunting feeling of a ‘blank canvas’. Not knowing where, and how to start tackling a problem can mean wasted time, and lost momentum. ChatGPT can be the perfect antidote to ‘creative block’ by generating some initial ideas right off the bat. While these won’t instantly present the perfect solution, they can help define a direction. The time saved by using ChatGPT for feature-specific inspirations, or to map out the key elements of a user flow, can be better spent on getting deeper into the problem, leading to better results.
This article has been written by Dave Breckon. You can also follow us on Instagram and read our other articles here.
