#73 Importants Habits for Designers
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Hello friends and welcome back to the future of UX podcast. My name is Patricia Reiners. I am your host and innovation and UX designer based in Zurich. Before we are diving into the three habits for today, I have a little announcement. So I realized that there is a growing need for a dedicated space basically where we can explore and shape the future of design together.

So I'm super excited to introduce Design Visioneers, an exclusive membership, a community for passionate designers who want to push the boundaries of what's possible. Design Visioneers will be about sharing insights, collaborating on innovative projects, live masterclasses and events, a place where you can ask questions, get feedback, and

And really stay ahead of the curve in the ever-evolving world of design. There's so much going on, so much buzz. So this place is somewhere where you don't need to feel overwhelmed with all the content that's out there. Because in this community, the content will be already curated for you.

We will discuss everything from emerging technologies to groundbreaking UX strategies and you will have the chance to connect with like-minded professionals so you are not alone in this journey anymore. You can ask questions, share your own learnings and your own tips and I am super super super excited about it. I was planning it for the last few months and I'm so happy that I can finally talk about it.

but just a little heads up the spots will be limited in the beginning so if you are excited as i am about the future of design make sure to join us early and become one of the founding members then you get a lifetime 50 early bird promo access

The reason why the spots are limited is because I want the community to grow steadily. I don't want it to become too big in the beginning. For me, it's super important that the right people are in this community so that we really have the right environment to learn and to grow together.

AI will be a super important topic, the resources and also the live events. By the way, the first live event, the first month will be about prompting. So we will do a one and a half hour live prompting masterclass for designers.

so if this all sounds interesting to you you can find more details in the description the community opens next monday on july 1st and if you want to get notified and be one of the first to grab their spot you can sign up for the waiting list and you will get notified

Awesome. Now I would say let's dive right into the topic and talk about three important habits for designers. Last week, I got invited to an interview for a podcast. And one of the questions that the host actually asked me was, what advice do you give to people about preparing for the future with AI?

So I'm a freelance designer. I'm working with lots of different companies, different clients from all around the world. It's all about AI, how to design with AI, how to design for AI. I'm seeing a lot of changes that are happening when I'm, you know, used to work on very classic design projects like creating design systems, for example, to now these innovation and AI projects. And I think

To really delve into the future, what is healthy, what's helpful is to start with habits, with little things that you can include in your daily life. So what is the advice that I would give people to prepare for the future? Especially now when you have this level of uncertainty around the opportunity it creates and the potential impact on different industries thinking about AI.

So from my experience, really preparing for the future and also for the future with AI involves a mix of some practical steps and also a little bit of a mindset shift. The first tip that I give everyone is really get your hands dirty and get your hands on AI. Experiment with different AI tools and technologies. For instance, try using AI-powered design tools or analytic platforms in your projects.

This hands-on experience is super important. It can be using ChatGPT for your project, that can be summarizing meetings, that can be summarizing certain documents, that can rewrite certain things, that basically like trying things out and experimenting with it. The result doesn't need to be perfect, but it's all about trying and exploring.

I am unfortunately seeing a lot of people like talking about it, but it's more about really trying things out. And even if something is not working, it doesn't mean that it won't work tomorrow or that it would have worked with another strategy. So get your hands dirty, explore it.

And if your workplace doesn't allow for experimentation, you can create your own mini project at home, for example. Either work on a design challenge on your own and come up with your own design process or use AI to automate a very personal task

or explore AI in a hobby that you enjoy. For example cooking and see how you can use AI for cooking. Create recipe images with mid journey or adobe firefly for example. Come up with maybe even like new recipes or learn how to combine different ingredients and use chat gpt or google gemini for these things just to get started right.

sometimes it's not about like trying every tool that's out there but focusing on just a few tools experiment and then expand the knowledge that you don't feel or expand the usage of different tools that you don't feel overwhelmed by like trying every tool out there start small and then continue and also really reflect on the results see what works what doesn't work and what could improve

It's super helpful to exchange these thoughts either with your colleagues or with friends, people who are also experimenting and are curious about these things. Could be in our design community for example, right? Like where you share your learnings, things that work, things that are not working, some of the limitations, some of the things that might worry you, some of the biases, the ethical problems that are coming up. And you share these things and you really exchange these thoughts. This is a super important thing.

Okay, so first is really get your hands on AI and this on a daily base. Second, so number two is stay curious and keep learning. AI is a fast evolving field, so it's super important to stay updated, to follow industry trends, take online courses and attend workshops or conferences. This will really help you to understand the latest trends and how they might impact your work.

We are in a very interesting situation at the moment because only a few percent of the designers out there have worked with AI or maybe it probably was machine learning so it was a little bit different than generative AI. So we all need to learn how to leverage generative AI not only working

With AI, you know, as a collaborator, as a co-pilot that you integrate in your workflow, the AI tools, right? Like how does it really make sense to integrate them? This is something that we need to learn. And second thing is also how to design for AI, so for AI products.

Right? Like most of the design projects we used to work on were more like static projects, right? Like you created a prototype, the flows were pretty much straightforward. Of course, you need to think about edge cases. But with AI, it's very, very different because the whole thing is...

not static. AI is learning from the human and the human is also learning from AI. So this is constantly changing and the prototyping phase is super different and designing experiences is super different. This is something that we need to learn and to figure out and I can already say that to you there is no perfect solution, no

picture perfect framework that you can use for these tools. There are different ways and strategies that you can use for certain projects of course right but there are a lot of things that are not 100% sure that we need to learn also as a community. So everyone in the whole tech industry need to learn these two things: working with AI and working for AI. So for us it's super important to

really stay super curious and keep learning. Even if we are a little bit scared about the AI implications, if we are a bit cautious, that is all great, right? We shouldn't be overexcited about AI. So it's important to see the limitations, to see the ethical components and

to basically have a look at two sides of AI, right? Like there is always good and bad. Nothing is just like black or white. It's always a little bit like in between. And we need to understand that.

So second is really stay curious and keep learning. Do courses. Yes, that can be AI for designers, for example. By the way, we are opening a new cohort in autumn. If you want to sign up to the six-week intensive program where you learn how to design with AI as a designer, you can sign up for the waiting list. You can find it in the description box and grab one of the limited seats and sign

Or of course join design communities. Design Visionaries will be one of those communities that you can join where you are not alone but where you really learn together in a group, in a community and inspire and help each other. And number three is embracing a collaborative mindset. So what does this mean? We are all collaborating with each other anyway.

That is true, we need to collaborate with each other, so with our teams, with data scientists, with developers. Of course we need to do that and we also needed to do that in the past. But we also need to collaborate with AI. And AI really works best when it augments human abilities. So look for ways to integrate AI into your workflows to really enhance your productivity and creativity.

For example, in a design project, use AI to handle repetitive tasks, allowing you to focus on the creative aspects. I already mentioned a few examples like summarizing user research as transcribed interviews, for example, coming up with a discussion guideline, with a survey,

With everything that's written, coming up with a content or a copy for a prototype or for a webpage, coming up with a super quick sketch or a design or a bioframe where you use your iSort for example or Galileo AI for like a prototype, like a workshop scenario where you create prototypes. So think about your own workflows and think about like what are the things that a computer can do? What are the things that are routine?

This is something that you need to be super aware of, because those are the tasks you shouldn't focus anymore on, right? Like, of course, you should still do it, but be really open about your own skills and your own task each day. So analyze what are repetitive tasks. Think about like, could a computer do that? Could a robot do that? If not, awesome.

become better at those tasks, learn them. But if you think like, okay, a computer will do that or a robot will do that pretty soon, I wouldn't focus too much on those tasks. So really allow you to focus on the creative aspects. So for us, it's super important to really think about those habits and those changes. So first of all, get hands-on with AI, learn AI, try the tools, experiment. Number two,

is stay curious and keep learning. You can be cautious, but stay curious. If you are a little bit afraid of AI, that's fine, but still try things out. You need to have that open mindset. Otherwise, you will get left behind in no time. And embrace a collaborative mindset with data scientists, with your co-workers, right? Like with your colleague, with your stakeholders, with AI. And collaboration with AI is

can be amazing, right? You as a pilot and AI as a co-pilot that supports you, that helps you. So think about the repetitive tasks that you are doing and think about how can you actually include AI into those tasks and focus more on the creative aspects. So when we are thinking about the broader implications, it's important to consider how AI might change our whole industry and the skills you will need to stay relevant.

You know, if you're in marketing, understanding how AI can analyze consumer behavior and personalize campaigns would be crucial.

So, in summary: My advice is to get started with AI, keep learning, collaborate with AI and stay aware of its broader impact. By doing this, you will be well prepared to navigate the uncertainties and size the opportunities AI presents. Don't forget to sign up to the waiting list for Redesign Visioneers, our new exclusive community where you learn about AI and the future of your ex.

And thank you so much for listening. Hear you all next week and bye-bye.

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