The latest stage of Product Design
In a way that echoes the later stages of capitalism, the current era of UX design is defined by an overcrowded market, a strong focus on financial gains, widespread standardization, increasing automation, and a greater emphasis on economic aspects. In this setting, where corporations hold substantial sway over both the economy and society, there's a limit to how much designers can effectively advocate for the needs of users. As we face these challenges in 2024, what approaches can we, as designers, adopt to successfully navigate this landscape?
1) Automation
AI increasingly automates parts of our roles, diminishing the need for designers in some sectors.
2) Saturation
Designer availability now surpasses demand. The market's future remains unpredictable
3) Commodization
Prioritizing scalability and uniformity over uniqueness and appeal.
4) Financial Focus
Rising dominance of economic well-being, investor priorities, and business indicators in shaping design choices.
5) Trust Erosion
Digital product distrust leads to user skepticism, indifference, or vulnerability to misuse.
AI is making designer tasks in large companies more efficient while removing their necessity in minor projects. With GenAI and LLMs emerging, firms are starting to refine their design workflows and cut designers' manual responsibilities.
This enhances designer productivity and introduces novel capabilities but also foreshadows smaller teams ahead. Both realities coexist.Additionally, AI dominates platforms like Wix and Squarespace, lowering the need for trained designers as small businesses can easily create websites through simple text commands.
Some designers are mastering "quick adaptation" to instruct ChatGPT and other LLMs, while others anticipate a more profound industry shift. Soon, AI won't just be a chat-based resource but a pervasive presence in our apps as users and creators.↳ Implications for DesignersThe Figma we know will soon evolve.
Once AI can spontaneously generate interfaces, linking them to your design repository, the designer’s mediator role diminishes. Figma will increasingly cater to all organizational members, not just designers.
↳ Opportunity Areas
While UI automation is on the rise, the significance of UX Research and Strategy will grow. Conceptual design and visionary thinking remain crucial. We need to identify fitting applications for new tech, with design moving beyond screens to areas like Augmented Reality and versatile AI agents.
↳ Preparation Strategies
Short-term, learning AI prompts and advanced AI tools is beneficial. Long-term distinction as a designer comes from strategic, intentional, and influential design thinking.
An on-street TikToker interview where the respondent describes their design role as “turning complex challenges into unique design solutions,” followed by a scene of them rearranging icons on a screen:
Saturation
Diminishing Teams
Declining Influence
Ongoing layoffs
Unstable markets
These are eroding the influence designers held in the last decade, highlighting the transactional nature of our roles. Long-term industry veterans have seen this cycle: layoffs, reduced design resources, and increased outsourcing.
For those in stable markets, the current downturn is a harsh wake-up after years of abnormal growth, which we shouldn't have assumed would last.The tide is turning: designers are feeling a loss of influence in their organizations, experiencing heightened burnout, and struggling to find suitable roles.
Despite gloomy predictions, it’s too early for doom and gloom; this is but one of several UX downturns. The appeal of the design problems we tackle remains strong, and many are grateful to work in a field they love.
