Has AI Rendered This Job Obsolete? A Career Projection for UX Designers

Artificial intelligence (AI) is taking the world by storm, and the software industry is at the forefront of the curve. However, while AI-powered tools have received accolades for their ability to perform repetitive coding and debugging tasks, their role in the design phase has received less attention.

But AI is indeed entering the design phase of the software development lifecycle, and so, what does this mean for the future of user experience (UX) design?  

What is a UX Designer? 

A user experience (UX) designer is responsible for making the interactions between a user and a product as enjoyable as possible. UX designers typically interact with users at multiple points throughout the development lifecycle to understand user needs and how their product will meet them. 

Some of a UX designer’s key tasks include: 

• User Research and Analysis: Define the target user group, their needs, and the solution the product can offer. 
• Design: Create wireframes, prototypes, and site maps to help clients understand how the final product will look and how it will appeal to users. 
• User Testing: Validate the product design and identify areas of improvement once the initial iterations of the product are released.

AI’s Role in UX Design

AI is being incorporated into many areas of the design workflow. Specifically, AI is altering the key tasks of UX designers in the following ways: 

• User Research and Analysis: AI can gather, organize, and analyze large amounts of data nearly instantaneously. AI is now capable of performing much of the heavy lifting in user research and analysis, providing designers with more comprehensive data from which to draw insights for UX design. 
• Brainstorming: One reason people love AI is its ability to generate ideas and answers almost instantaneously. It can therefore be a great collaborator for designers in the initial design stages. Using AI tools to generate multiple ideas for color schemes, logo designs, or even app flows can help designers spark ideas and create foundational layers for the app’s final product. 
• Design: Designers are able to use AI-powered tools, such as WizardUI, to create site maps and base wireframes in a fraction of the time. Although these drafts are certainly not market-ready, they do enable designers to optimize their workflow and spend the majority of their time focusing on the creative design decisions that turn a good app into a great one.
• User Testing: AI-powered tools are able to collect app data and analyze it in real-time. This provides designers with immediate feedback on the UX, enabling them to address user issues promptly and effectively. AI is also allowing designers and developers to shorten the continuous integration/continuous delivery (CI/CD) cycle, bringing users more relevant updates more quickly. 

Where Projects Still Need UX Designers

With AI’s integration into each of the key tasks that designers perform, you may be wondering whether your project still needs a UX designer.

The unequivocal answer is yes. UX designers are still crucial members of the product development team. 

At Grio, our designers are continually testing new AI-powered design tools and finding ways to integrate AI into their design workflows. And while AI is undoubtedly optimizing many design tasks, there are certain areas where our designers simply cannot be replaced. 

Empathetic Design

UX design is a user-centric activity. This means that, above all else, the UX designer prioritizes the needs and desires of their human users. A successful UX design must intimately understand the users, their problems, and their needs. It’s for this reason that one of the most essential skills that a UX designer possesses is empathy.

While an AI-powered assistant can mimic human logic, it can never use empathy to understand why users think or act the way they do. To truly connect to users and maximize UX, a human touch is undoubtedly needed. 

Qualitative Research

AI-powered tools are able to redefine how quantitative user research is conducted. However, when focusing on the user experience, qualitative research is just as vital. An eyebrow raising, a mouth turning down in a frown, and hands shifting nervously are all signs that UX designers can use to more deeply understand their users. From human behavior to human emotions, AI tools simply cannot replace the intuition of human designers.  

Intuitive Storytelling

Design isn’t simply about making an app look cool; it’s about weaving a story into every component of the product that users identify with on a subconscious level. The best designs are those that resonate with users and allow users to form an emotional connection with the product or organization. 

While AI can mimic art style, brand, and tone, it cannot create its own designs. As a result, it’s up to designers to take AI’s base imagery and work in the nuances that make a brand truly stand out. 

Intelligent Insights

When AI-powered tools assist in user research, they can provide designers with real-time user feedback and qualitative insights into user needs and how their product is being received. However, without understanding how humans think and act, AI is incapable of taking this data and forming conclusions about what is lacking and where the UX can be improved.

Challenges for UX Designers Integrating AI

UX designers are responsible for seamlessly jumping from analytical thinking to creativity thousands of times each day. While AI tools can help them decrease the time they spend on analytical tasks or brainstorming new designs, they also present new challenges for designers: 

• The UX Bar Keeps Rising: Designers are responsible for creating an app that is not only aesthetically pleasing but also accessible and easy to use while seamlessly meeting the user’s needs. With the integration of AI, this already high bar has been raised yet again. UX designers must now find ways to use AI to further maximize UX while minimizing budget and time to market. 
• Personalization: By utilizing behavioral data and sophisticated algorithms, UX designers can customize apps based on user preferences. However, while this is a powerful tool designers can use to tailor an app to each individual user or user group, it nonetheless adds more complex layers to the product the designer must create.  
• Customer Service: Customer service is a vital part of the UX experience. With AI chatbots and assistants, companies are now able to offer interactive and intuitive customer service 24/7. While this addition is beneficial for users, balancing the complexity of AI integration and design with budget and time-to-market can be challenging for designers. 

Successful UX Designers Make Successful Products

At Grio, our UX designers are finding innovative ways to use AI to further elevate the user experience. Whether brainstorming unique designs or discovering actionable insights through AI-powered user research, our designers are elevating your apps with AI. 

To find out how our UX designers can turn your great idea into an even greater app, contact us for a free consultation.