AI in UX design: Tools to improve the design process

It’s no secret that artificial intelligence (AI) is changing the types of products and services we design. But did you know that UX designers can integrate AI practices to enhance or speed up their workflow? 

Some may wonder if AI will be so useful that it will replace our jobs. The reality is that designing unique user experiences requires true creativity, innovation, and empathy that AI simply cannot replace. AI cannot lead workshops or present to stakeholders with compelling storytelling. However, that doesn’t mean AI can’t improve a UX designer’s process.

Let’s learn more about how AI impacts UX design, ways to use AI to improve your workflow and AI tools you can use in the UX design process.

How does artificial intelligence (AI) impact UX design?

AI has been incorporated into UX design to help make data-driven decisions and predict user behavior. It can often generate ideas, outlines, or personas that designers can use to launch mockups and prototypes. 

Since AI is essentially trained on the human brain and programmed to act in ways that simulate our own patterns, it can offer efficient data collection and analysis, and speed up certain parts of the UX design process. For now, AI acts as a companion in UX design but cannot perform any single job function enough to replace it.

5 ways to use AI to improve UX design

Here are some ways UX designers can use AI, along with the AI tools that accompany those tips and tricks.

1. Conducting user testing

While deep qualitative user experience research cannot be replaced by AI and machines, certain types of user research and testing can be enhanced. Tools such as Maze can conduct user testing on prototypes to gather quantitative data such as time-on-screen, click-through rates, and heat maps. UserTesting also launched a new AI-powered tool to help designers and researchers streamline repetitive tasks and synthesize data more efficiently. 

AI tools: Maze, Visualeyes, UserTesting AI

2. Brainstorming ideas and concepts

One of the best ways AI can assist in the UX design process is by brainstorming ideas and concepts. Whether you provide a scenario or scrubbed (wiped of personal information) data, AI tools like ChatGPT or DALL-E can help jog the memory to develop concepts. 

In design thinking, there is the Double Diamond framework. One diamond represents a problem, and the other is the solution. The diamonds widen for exploring possibilities and narrow down for making decisions. From the four stages of Discover, Define, Develop, and Deliver, AI can help brainstorm for the “Discover” portion of the problem and the “Develop” aspect of the solution.

AI tools: ChatGPT, DALL-E, Vas

3. Creating user personas

AI can help designers develop personas by analyzing what users are saying on discussion forums and social media channels. These insights are combined with existing users to create user personas that UX designers can keep in mind as they reiterate on their designs.

AI tool: Smartone, Delve AI

4. UX writing

In the UX design discipline, it’s not just designers, researchers, and strategists. There are also content designers who are sometimes tasked with UX writing, which consists of generating functional and targeted copy optimized for SEO and users. More and more, AI tools like Writer can help deliver UX writing examples based on inputted context and information.

AI tools: Writer, Copy.ai, Jasper

5. Enhancing UI and branding

There is AI that can help UX designers, who are often more concerned with usability and functionality rather than aesthetics, to incorporate user interface (UI) elements to add color, logos, and typography to their designs. AI can help designers choose the right colors or typefaces to elevate their creations.

AI tools: Uizard, Adobe Sensei, Midjourney

The future of AI in UX design

With AI technologies barreling ahead at full speed, people of all disciplines are left wondering about its purpose and potential. The worries and fears around AI ethics and bias in UX design remain the same–how will AI affect how user data is collected and what are the implications for plagiarism? There's a plethora of AI-powered tools specifically created for UX designers (and related fields like content design and UX research), with more constantly appearing.

As we continue experimenting with AI in UX design, remember that this discipline relies heavily on human data and abilities that AI cannot easily reproduce. From choosing the best button text color to prototyping a new web experience for election voters, designing delightful user experiences requires empathy and finesse that only humans have–machines cannot replace these traits, so UX design jobs are still relevant.

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