#49 Designing Tomorrow: Navigating the Future of UX - Q&A
25:59 Share

Hello, friends, and welcome back to the Future of UX podcast, your resource for everything around the future, user experience, design, and technology. My name is Patricia Reiners. I am your host, and I'm super excited to share the last podcast of the year 2023 with you. The year has been, how can we describe it best? I would say...

Interesting, right? A lot of new devices, gadgets, technology stumbled across the market and also into our design workflow. So the year has been super interesting. And I ask you on Instagram, what are your questions for us?

the, for this year, for the upcoming year about future trends. And I got quite some interesting questions and just go through them step by step. We will talk about the future of leadership. We will talk about design tools, what are important skills for designers and much more. So I would say lay back, get cozy. I hope you're all in the Christmas mood already. Get yourself a tea or

a cozy drink and then I would say let's get started with the very first question. So first question is do you have any recommendations on tools which make your life as a designer easier this year? Tools is a super important topic I feel at the moment.

And a lot of people are asking about tools. For me, I am a designer. So of course I use the typical design tools. But besides that, I am using TechGPT a lot. I am using the premium version, I think, for almost a year now. So I'm a crazy pro user using it every day for several hours, trying a lot of things out. And I definitely manage to integrate TechGPT in my workflows.

super successfully. Well, this is a huge help. I'm using it all the time. Amazing tool. And the second tool that I really love to use is Descript. It's a video tool where you can create subtitles. You can also edit sound and voice. It's an amazing tool with a lot of really cool features. Maybe some of you have seen this feature where, you know, you like you film yourself and you look on some paper and you really read the lines.

And then with just like one click, you can change the eyes basically that you're looking straight into the camera. And this is a feature I haven't used that for any kind of videos, but I tried it out and it works perfectly. So this is a really cool tool that I'm using for my Instagram and social media content. And for image generation, I use Midjourney. I absolutely love Midjourney. I love

I'm using it, I think, since August 2022. So for a really long time, I'm experimenting with it a lot. Basically, all the visuals that you are seeing on my Instagram, on my social media, on my podcast are all created with Midjourney. So there's a lot of experimentation involved and I really love that tool. I'm using it on a daily basis.

And the other tools that I really love are, of course, Miro, like Miro for workshops. I also really love the Miro AI features. Amazing. Makes my life so much easier, especially in combination with ChatGPT. And I also love to use Loom. It's a video recording tool that tries to replace meetings, basically, right? So you can record your screen and

Then send the recording to a colleague or a client or something like that if you want to explain something but don't want to start a meeting. I really love those tools. But I'm also curious about you. Maybe you can share your favorite tools. I will add a question thing here to the podcast. So please share them with me. I'm always super curious to learn about new exciting tools. Okay, let's move to the next topic. And I think this is also a very interesting one.

So when do you know it's time to leave a company as a lead designer? Not only maybe as a lead designer, but also as a designer, right? Like as a mid-level, as a junior designer. I think super, super important question and always important to keep in mind that although there's a lot of scarcity at the moment out there with like job shortage and a lot of layoffs,

It doesn't mean that you need to stay at your job if you are not happy, right? So 2024 can be an amazing year where you take your career to the next step. Either you move to freelance, you move to another company, and you really change those, change your career. For me personally, I would definitely move, although I'm self-employed, but I know that it's time to leave a position, a project,

also working with people if there are several things. So the first for me is if you stop growing, right? Like if you feel like you're doing, you know, everything all over again, you're not really challenging yourself anymore. This is a really good time when, yeah, it might be time for a change. You know, it's super important to also recognize that.

Especially as a designer, we are living in a super fast-paced world and it's totally fine if there are phases in your life and in your career where a little bit less things are going on and where you learn a little bit less and lay a little bit back, maybe focus on other things like family or private life. Totally fine. But if this happens for a really long time and you feel like you're not growing, then you're really getting left behind.

And I remember that also this was my biggest motivation when I left my job at the agency where I worked before I moved to freelance, because I thought I am getting left behind here. I'm not learning anything anymore. So I need to do something to really be on track and really go with the time. The second thing that I think is an important indicator are value clashes.

This can happen also values of a company can change or it takes some time for you to really recognize the company's values. But if they don't really match with your values anymore, this is really difficult. Or if the culture has changed, right? Like if a lot of people got laid off, there are new people and you feel like there's not really a good vibe. This is definitely a sign to move on.

You can try to change the vibe, change the values for a certain time. But at some point, you just really need to say to yourself that it's probably not the right thing for you anymore. Especially with values, I think at the moment, if you are a designer. Not in every company, unfortunately, UX is seen as...

or the UX maturity is very high. There are still some companies who think UX is a little bit more like design, graphic design, and you need to have a lot of discussions with the business department. So I feel those are a lot of indicators that this is maybe not the ideal environment. But of course, I would say like try to change the environment, also the culture.

Try to make it better before you quit, right? But like if there are some clashes, this is super important to recognize that and then really go with, go or focus on yourself and what's important to you. The next thing that I think is an important indicator is the lack of impact. And this is especially important for lead designers.

You want to feel like you're really making a difference. So if you feel your work isn't valued or it's not really making an impact, it might be time to find a place where it will

Especially at the moment, we need a lot of amazing lead designers who are leading teams for the future, who are making sure that the teams are future-proof. And there are also a lot of companies who are really valuing people who are going the, not say extra mile, but who are really in that mindset, right? So the lack of impact is, I think, definitely an important indicator. Yes, I think this is super important.

The last thing, of course, are any kind of mental issues, burnout, for example. So if it's really stressful and you're not really enjoying your work-life balance, listen to yourself. Your health and happiness is more important than your job, period. It's like that and it will always be like that. So take care of yourself and I think then you really know the answer, right? This was helpful.

Let's move to question number three, which is how to future-proof yourself as a UX designer in 2024. Also a very important question that's been buzzing around social media everywhere, basically, because the reason is very simple, because 2023 has been such a

challenging, interesting and revolutionary year, especially with AI, with the Apple Vision Pro, with a lot of tech updates, with layoffs in the design industry. So there is definitely a change happening, right? And we are all seeing that the internet is changing. So we are in the beginning of a big, I would say like, yeah, revolutionary phase.

So what those are just like my opinion. So what I would do or what I think is super important to future proof yourself. So for me, the first thing that is very important if you really want to future proof yourself as a UX designer is really keep the mindset of lifelong learning.

We all know that as UX designers, you know, that tools are changing, that there's always something to learn, which is something UX designers or that all of us love, that it never gets boring, that you never feel like, now I know everything. This won't happen, not to any UX designers, not even Jacob Nielsen will say, oh, now I know enough. You know, I'm done. Not at all. No, he is also learning.

By the way, if anyone of you doesn't know who Jacob Nielsen is, he's one of the godfathers of UX design. He, for example, came up with the 10 heuristics of interface design. I can also add them to the show notes so you can have a look. So the lifelong learning thing is important. So you're probably asking, what should I learn now, right? There's so much out there. And for me, that's just one answer. And this is get comfortable with AI and automation.

The number one thing, and AI is not a buzzword. Please don't think that. It's a tool, it's a technology that's here to stay. It's here to stay. It won't go anywhere. And this is just the beginning of what we saw this year. So for you, if you really want to be successful in the future, I can just recommend you one thing. Really dive into AI and do it now. Because there will be a time where everyone else next to you

focused on that topic is comfortable with AI and you are not. And you really got, yeah, you are a little bit behind. And I definitely don't want that for you, by the way, because I am also super passionate about AI, about future-proofing designers career. I am launching a five-week AI for Design course. It starts in January.

And this five-week course goes through three steps: Discover, Apply and Connect. In the Discover phase, we are learning about AI tools. I know there's so much out there and it's so easy to feel overwhelmed by all the tools and all the news. But what we are really doing in that phase is we are breaking it down. We have pre-recorded videos.

where I guide you through the tools, how to use them. You will learn prompt engineering. You'll write our own amazing prompts and really learn how to use these tools, how to make the most out of them. In the next phase, apply, we will use the tools and create our own workflows. So integrate them in our workflows, in our design and use them as a collaborator. There are a lot of examples, a lot of resources for you. And in the very last phase,

We are going to, you know, the connect phase. We will connect that to the bigger picture. We will have a look at beyond. We will have a look beyond the hype and really see how the future will look like. We will create an AI learning roadmap and yeah, make your future proof. And my goal with the five week AI for designer course is that you have all the resources you need to really kickstart the year 2024.

And you will not learn alone, but we are all learning together. And I think this makes a really, really big difference. So we have one module for each week where we focus on a certain topic, where we learn there's a task involved. You get feedback on that task. There is a live workshop where we have a reflection call or talk about the content where you can ask questions. You know, the course comes with a notion board, with cheat sheets, with resources, everything you need.

to really kickstart that topic. And I would absolutely love you to join. So if that sounds interesting to you, if you would like to join that,

feel free to sign up to the waiting list. The waiting list will get two two days early access of the course because they're limited spots. You know, everyone gets feedback. I need to make sure that, you know, everyone gets what they need in that course. So I need to limit the seats. So if you want to get one, sign up early. This is just my recommendations, but you will get all the information if you are on the waiting list. So I will add that to the show notes.

And he will get all the information and hopefully see you in the AI for a Designer course in January. We would absolutely love to see you and learn with you in those five weeks. Perfect. So this is definitely a recommendation. Focus on AI and learn AI ASAP for 2024. The next super important topic is understanding your users. And I think this is also such a

You know, such a sentence that we always say, of course, we are understanding our users, but it will move, of course, into an area where it's more about like digging really deep into users' needs, more in psychology, really understanding motivations, desires, needs.

doing research with people and moving, going into those areas that AI is not going to do for you. Where AI is an amazing support if you know how to do it, how to integrate AI, but where there's always been or always needs to be a human being involved.

So this is definitely a super important topic. So I would recommend to focus on psychology, user motivations, on user research and really understand your users and motivations. Because the user always stays the same, right? Although human beings are changing slightly, the psychological aspects are staying pretty much the same, which is pretty interesting, right? And number three, and I think it's a super important is motivation.

Also, designers are going to change from creation to facilitation, right? So we used to create content, create design, create workflows, create wireframes, screens. We are still going to do that, but the whole role is going to move more into the role of facilitation, bringing people together, helping them to create

come to solutions together, facilitating workshops and also facilitating the use of AI. So this is a super important trend and the better you get at it, the more successful you're also going to be in the future. This is also something that we are going to focus on in the AI for Design course. Perfect. And the next question, also very interesting, is...

Do you think AI will replace your ex-professionals? Of course, I got a lot of questions around AI, which makes so much sense. And maybe you've already heard my thoughts about AI, you know, like in the beginning of the podcast. But for me, I think definitely not. Is this important or super famous sentence of AI is not going to replace you, a human using AI will?

And using AI successfully is definitely a big challenge, but it's also really doable, right? I personally think AI is not going to replace your ex-professionals. The role of your ex-professionals is also changing. The desired skills basically are changing, right? Here are some things that AI can do. For me, the first thing is definitely, of course, the human touch because AI is not human.

Your X design generally is not just about making things look nice. You know that. It's about really deeply understanding human emotions, needs and behaviors. Although AI is smart, but it doesn't really quite get the nuances of human experiences. Of course not. Like a real person can. And I think this is super important. Everything that's around like the human touch AI is not going to do.

The second thing is, and also a super important skill for the future, is definitely creative thinking. Design involves a lot of creativity and thinking outside the box. AI can help with some of the heavy lifting, but when it really comes to true innovation and unique and new ideas, humans have the upper hand, right? So I would say it's a little bit like cooking maybe, AI can follow recipe, but it's

Although it also maybe can create a new dish, but a human being could combine a lot of different things in those dishes, right? Like, for example, like the visual part, if you know your customer, what they like, what are their favorite colors, and then come up with something that's completely new. Maybe, yeah, a certain recipe that's only in red with certain herbs on it. That's very unique.

that you have never had before. So something that's very unique, I would say. And of course, number three are also ethics and empathy. Although ChatGPT from OpenAI, for example, got so much better with biases, right? So there are less biases involved in the answer. So they're really improving it, which is great to see. But still, designers often have to make a lot of ethical decisions and emphasize with the user.

AI, of course, lacks with a moral compass and the ability to truly emphasize with human conditions. Super important, I think. And number four, of course, collaboration and communication, because AI is not going to do everything, right? It's the future will be around collaboration. Collaboration. AI and the human being will be a team.

You will be a team. It's not you or AI. It's a team, right? Like you as UX designers don't create a whole app. You also have maybe a developer. You have a product manager. You have a researcher maybe, right? So there are different roles included. Of course, you could do more than one role. But in most teams, if you really want to be successful, it's helpful to collaborate, have different perspective and different insight and also learn

what each person or each team member is capable of. Super important. So

Well, AI is super fantastic. It's an amazing technology. I would say it really can help your ex-professionals with data analysis, generating basic layouts or speeding up the design process. But it's not about to take over the job entirely. And it's more about collaboration. And I think this is super, super, super important.

Let's move to the last question, which is what are UX leaders' responsibilities in guiding the future UX teams? Also an amazing question. And I think UX leaders or also lead designers have big responsibility at the moment, right? Because there's so much change happening. They really play, I would say, a crucial role in guiding future UX teams.

So the first thing, and this is always helpful for every change, is to come up with a vision and a direction. So think of your ex-leaders as, you know, like basically the captains of the ship. They set the course, finding the vision, and we are acting for the team to help to understand what are the tools that are important? What are the topics that are important? Where and how do we focus on?

And this really means understanding where the industry is headed and aligning the team's work with the latest trends and technology. And understanding that probably gets you to a point where you, you know, where you understand, okay, so creative thinking is super important and innovative environment is super important.

And this really means that you need to find places and frameworks for your course and meetings and places where people can be creative and innovation can really happen. So actually you just create an environment where teams feel free to experiment, take risks and think outside the box. Super important. And then, of course, some very basic things still, but this is not something special for the time at the moment, right? Like mentorship and growth.

Because UX leaders are like coaches for their teams, right? They need to come up with mentorship possibilities and really let people grow and understand their unique skills and then guiding them into the future, that idea for that specific person, but also making sure that the team is aligned for everything that's needed, right? And

Yeah, and then making sure that everyone's really staying ahead of trends and technologies, which is a big challenge at the moment because there's so much going on. So you need to find a routine, some kind of like a setup where you share UX updates or insights of where you get the team to do that. And I think this is super important. And the last recommendation here is, of course, we're building diverse and inclusive teams.

Like inclusivity is a super important topic and diversity as well. But I think this is hopefully something that every UX leader is already doing at the moment and it already is a high priority. Okay, I hope those questions were helpful or interesting to you.

So this is the last episode of the year 2023 and there's just like one thing that would make me really happy. So if you listened to many episodes or just one and you really loved it, you found some insights, please give this podcast a five-star review.

This would be a perfect Christmas present for me. You know, I spend so much love and effort in that podcast. I don't have any sponsors, so I'm just really doing that to share knowledge. And yeah, a nice review would definitely help me to podcast going, to make it grow. And yes, a nice thank you is always great to end the year.

Perfect. You guys, thank you so much for listening to the podcast, for supporting it during the year, for sharing it, for promoting it. Also to everyone who already gave the podcast a five-star review. Really appreciate that.

So thank you so much for your time, for your support. I wish you amazing Christmas and holidays, amazing new year 2024. And we will speak again in the new year with lots of hot updates and insights that you need to know for 2022. Thank you so much and see you in the future.