How UX/UI Designers became UX/AI Designers
The UX evolution: Why UX/UI designers need more AI skills and how to master the job transformation.
Views are my own.
The design world is moving at a rapid pace and now — once again — it’s affecting UX designers. This profession is constantly changing, but the core remains constant: creating valuable experiences for users. The focus is still on people, no matter what technologies enter the scene.
From mobile to tablets, spatial computing and now AI: UX designers are open to everything, can think their way in quickly and always stay on top of the latest trends. So, while AI is just the next logical step in technology, it is also the most groundbreaking. In Germany, some young girls will likely get to know this field early on at Girl’s Day, the annual STEM future day in school.
For the first time, this raises the critical question where we still need human experience at all and where machines might take over the tasks directly. Even today, there are so many unnecessary, misleading steps in user interfaces: You can skip these fields when applying for jobs, because you really DON’T have to enter them initially.
Will we need “machine experience optimizers”, humanoid experience designers or even no UX designers at all in the future?
Probably the most radical change of all. So let’s find out what that means for us!
Naming: Web Designer, Product Designer… and now UX/AI Designer
Indeed, UX designers have had many roles and names. We’re almost used to name changes in this profession, aren’t we? From web designer to product designer to UX/UI specialist. Depending on the company, different names stand for different tasks or a wild mix of everything. The term “UX” is a comforting constant. When you apply for a job, try to include the name of the respective position in your resumé. Here are 5 myths you should definitely avoid in your CV.
There are fancy job titles in all kinds of areas, which is quite normal. But sometimes it’s just a futuristic marketing facade. In addition, there is a colorful bouquet of subcategories such as Interaction Designer, Visual Designer or Service Designer. Now, AI is the next step.
While some basics such as accessibility are likely to remain, this transformation has the added benefit of being extremely efficient. This means that tedious steps may no longer be necessary for users. Will users still be human at all or perhaps avatars or robots?
Why the switch from UX/UI to UX/AI design?
- 🪄Intuition: AI applications such as chatbots have long had a reputation for being impersonal or inhuman. Artificial intelligence enables a hyper-personalized experience that adapts to user behavior and preferences. UX designers moving into AI ensure that interactions are seamless, inclusive and intuitive. In other words, not choppy, mechanical or complicated. If you like exploring new design skills, be sure to check out the short courses at UAL in London.
- 🧠 Tech-savvy: Intelligent AI features such as analytics and natural language processing create interfaces that are more complex than most traditional UX/UI frameworks. Designers with UX/AI expertise have the necessary skills to make these areas simple. They make it easy for users to find their way around and take full advantage of the benefits. Especially if you already have a lot of experience, you should be careful with the salary expectations in your CV or cover letter. Never undervalue yourself!
- 🏎️ Design Automation: Yes, designs can already be created with prompts. At the moment it’s still rather poor, but that will soon change. Figma, for example, has already made a good start and Canva and Adobe are also showing good progress. It is almost certain that some design functions will be eliminated and automated. So as a designer, you should definitely look around and upskill: Explore 7 New Promising Careers for UX Designers!
The term UX/UI is no longer enough
The focus has shifted: It’s no longer just about designing appealing and inclusive interfaces or creating simple user experiences. Instead, designers now need to consider the interactions between humans and machines holistically, especially in the context of AI and other disruptive technologies. Despite AI, you should skip the cover letter when applying! Find out here why you don’t usually need one these days and how you can stand out instead.
As a result, humans are becoming more important than ever before. This is a positive development, which is also reflected in the increasing appreciation of digital accessibility. Years ago, some universities were already offering courses in human-computer interaction, which was definitely well ahead of time!
While UX (user experience) and UI (user interface) were once clear and separate areas, the boundaries between these disciplines are now blurred.
The term UX/UI alone therefore falls far short because it does not capture the new dimension of experiences made possible by artificial intelligence. As a reminder, we are talking about intelligent systems that are able to analyse data, predict behaviour and offer personalized experiences in real time. Knowledge exchange is important: Here’s a community of creative techies on the new professional network read.cv. After all, this evolution demands a deep grasp of both the technological and human sides of design.
Human-centered design is thus gaining a whole new significance and perhaps a small revival after the design thinking inflation. If you prefer consulting to “building” yourself, a job in consulting would be interesting. Click here for a list of the official Instagram accounts of McKinsey, Bain, BCG and more.
Another name change could be just around the corner — we’ve seen it happen before! So, what could the future hold? Here are some ideas from ChatGPT on what the next generation of user-centered design roles might be called:
- Conversational Experience Designer
- Experience Architect
- AI Experience Designer
- Human-Centric AI Designer
- Ethical Experience Designer
- Data-Driven Experience Designer
- Augmented Experience Designer
- Adaptive Experience Designer
- Cross-Channel Experience Designer
So, let’s take on this exciting challenge together and actively shape the future of design! Because as long as AI is designed by responsible people, we don’t need to be afraid. You should just watch out for ghost jobs, because nobody really needs fake jobs in the UX/AI sector. It is also common for job profiles to evolve, disappear — or for new professions to emerge. Maybe we can even contribute to finding a name in the process!
What name would you suggest?
I actually think Human Experience Designer is a pretty good name too.
🎨 Free CV / Resumé Template on Figma
Successfully shared with mentees for years, NYCHE CareeraCard® template users landed interviews at McKinsey, BCG, Bain, Google, Deloitte, and more. Figma offers free plans and special student access. What are you waiting for? ⬇️ ⬇️
https://www.figma.com/community/file/1342866030980153169/cv-resume-template-i-nyche-careercard
💜 Feedback & Questions
I‘d love to hear from you! Connect with me on LinkedIn.
Or follow me on read.cv
If you liked this story, please leave a clap 👏
