#74 Skills beyond AI every Designer Needs to Have
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Hello friends and welcome back to the future of UX podcast, the number one resource for exploring the future of technology and user experience design. I'm Patrice and today we are diving into a critical topic. Understanding what really sets us apart as humans in an era increasingly dominated by AI.

And we will see how the design industry is changing, how skills are changing. And we will talk about things that are important beyond AI. So, SAI continues to evolve.

It's important to recognize and also nurture the uniquely human traits that make us irreplaceable. From creativity and innovation to emotional intelligence, critical thinking and adaptability, these skills are our superpowers in an AI-driven world. So in this episode, we are going to explore how we can leverage these strengths, provide practical examples and also share tips on, yeah,

really practicing these abilities. So we will go through five skills step by step and talk about an example and also tips to practice. And I would say we will get started with the first one, which is creativity and innovation. So AI can generate ideas and replicate styles, but it really lacks the true creative spark that humans possess.

So when you think about a painter, for example, how a painter approaches a blank canvas, the painter really brings emotion, experiences and imaginations to life. AI might analyze patterns, but it doesn't really feel inspired or have a personal vision.

Another example is think about a graphic designer who might use AI tools to generate multiple design options quickly. But the final creative touch like choosing the perfect color screen, adding unique elements, telling a story through visuals and also judging which of the results that AI created are unique.

human tasks, right? So this comes from the designer's human creativity and human judgment skills. How can you practice that? First of all, and I think many of you probably already have that, is engaging creative hobbies. Whether it's painting, it's writing, it's musing, immerse yourself in activities that really help you to get into this creative flow, creative spark.

explore these things because that will really set you apart it can be pottery it can be knitting it can be cooking anything where your brain really needs to work where you get into this flow state and collaborate and brainstorm work with others and exchange ideas gain new perspective creativity really thrives in collaborative environments talking about collaboration

Just a few weeks ago, the Design Visioneers community started. This is a place where designers come together, learn together through live masterclasses. There are a lot of places where you can share learnings, results. You have curated resources for you that really prepare you for the future and everything that's ahead of us.

And there's one quote that really stuck with me, which says, if you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together. And this is what really stands with me or what I really believe in. Like, if we want to design the future, we need to do that together in a group and support each other. If you want to learn more, you can find all the information in the description box.

Okay, so let's move to point number two, which is emotional intelligence and empathy. And I think this is not a big surprise, right? Because especially having emotion is something uniquely human and a super important skill, having empathy. So while AI can analyze and respond to emotions to some extent, it doesn't truly really understand or feel them. Sometimes it, you know, it really seems like it is, but it's not.

Imagine a therapist helping a patient navigate their emotions. So the ability to emphasize, offer comfort and provide nuanced support if you meet a human. So here's an example. You know, in customer service, for example, a representative might use AI to gather customer data and suggest responses, but really understanding the customer's frustration and providing empathetic support can only come from a human. How can you practice that?

First of all, if you have a conversation today with your partner, with your friend, with your neighbor, pay full attention to others while they're speaking. Acknowledge their feeling and show empathy. So really feel with them. Instead of thinking, what can I do, say next? Think about...

what is this person feeling, right? Try to really have great empathy. And after those conversations, really reflect on how you responded emotionally and consider ways to maybe improve your empathetic responses. Empathy can be learned and this will be a super important skill. It already is a super important skill. So skill number three, it's critical thinking and judgment.

AI can analyze data and present options, but making complex decisions and involving ethical considerations or maybe even subjective judgments is where humans excel. So in business, deciding on a strategy that balances profit with social responsibility requires an understanding beyond just like data analysis.

Here's an example. You know, like a business leader, maybe a design leader might use AI for the market analysis, but deciding on a sustainable business strategy involves really waiving various factors and considering long-term impacts and aligning with company values. This is the human skill. How can you practice that? Question your assumptions. Regularly challenge your own decisions and consider maybe alternative perspectives.

This is a huge challenge, but really, Think Again is an amazing book that I can recommend from Adam Grant. It's called Think Again. Awesome book. You need to read that. It's super helpful how you can challenge your own beliefs. Awesome book. I will link it in the description box. So really practice thinking through different scenarios and thoughts.

Think through potential outcomes to improve your decision-making skills. So understanding the different perspectives is super important. Okay, now point number four, which is adaptability and flexibility. In general, humans are incredibly adaptable and can think on their feet basically.

When you think about a teacher who's adjusting their lesson plan on the fly based on students' reactions, this very spontaneous problem-solving and adaptation is something AI isn't equipped to handle. Maybe when you think about

the last presentation that you give to your stakeholders, to your clients, right? Like everything that maybe didn't happen as planned, you probably adjusted the presentation a little bit. You did some changes, how you argumented, how you present the design decisions that you made or in project management, right? Like AI made help in scheduling and tracking the process. But when these unforeseen challenges arise,

Humans, adaptability and the quick thinking are important to find solutions. So how can you practice that? First of all, embrace change. There's a lot of change coming.

Regularly expose yourself to new situations and challenges to build resilience and adaptability. And I think this is a good skill for everyone, not just in an era of AI, but really get out of your comfort zone. The problem is if you don't go out of your comfort zone with every situation that you don't handle so well or where you feel overwhelmed and you don't do it again, your comfort zone gets smaller.

So for you, for everyone in the whole world, it's super important to really step out of the comfort zone. If things don't work out, do it again. Try it again. Right? Like failure is not an option for everything. If you set all of your comfort zone and did a presentation and it didn't go as planned, it doesn't mean that you're not good at presenting. You just need to practice and do it again. So your comfort zone gets bigger. And I'm seeing that especially with...

Like some people who are older, right? Like maybe your neighbor or like actually we have a neighbor here in the apartment and she's around like 80 or so. She never really leaves the house because she's too scared to talk to people, to do things, to go shopping and her.

Basically, like her comfort zone got so, so, so small because she maybe had some situations that were uncomfortable and then she really got scared. And yeah, she didn't really have the courage to step out of it. And this happens to all of us. So we need to be very aware of that and step out of the comfort zone, practice that. Because after encountering these unexpected situations, you can reflect on how you adapted and what you learned from the experience.

And last but not least, all the ethical and the social implications. We need to learn and to understand and address the ethical use of AI and technologies and this role of being a designer. This means really thinking about the types of data we use, ensuring security and privacy, and also mitigating biases in AI systems.

So a product manager might use AI to analyze user data, but they must ensure that data is used ethically, respecting privacy, and also avoiding biases. How can you practice that? Say you phoned. Keep up with the latest discussion and guidelines on AI ethic and data privacy. And maybe become an advocate for ethical practices in your company.

Promote ethical considerations in your workplace and ensure AI implementations are responsible and fair.

So as we navigate the future, our uniquely human skills remain invaluable. By focusing what we do best, being creative, empathetic, thoughtful and adaptable, we can really thrive in an AI-enhanced world and this opens new opportunities for us as a designer or as someone working in tech. So really embracing AI is a tool to augment our abilities and making you more efficient and effective in your work.

By the way, if you like the podcast, if this was helpful to you, if you're really enjoying listening to the episode, I would highly recommend if you could give this podcast a five-star review. It would be so helpful for me to do more research, invite guests and to just get more awareness. Thank you so much for your help. I really, really, really appreciate that. So thank you so much for joining today's episodes. If you enjoyed the discussion, rate the podcast, write me a comment.

And don't forget to sign up for the AI mini training. You can find that in the description box. It's available for free, basically. So until next time, keep pushing the boundaries of creativity and innovation. Hear you in the future.