Reflections on reading: Design Is Moving to the Front of the Stack by Rachel Kobetz (https://medium.com/defining-experience/design-is-moving-to-the-front-of-the-stack-002dbc24156b)
This article was shared in my design community, and provokes some interesting and difficult questions, specifically about the mindset of traditional & current ways of working and the time it (can) take to move to a more fluent and hybrid model between designers and developers, between idea and execution of that idea. These are the questions that came to my mind.
What is an idea?
An idea is not something that can just be generated and executed, it takes curiosity, design thinking, empathy and critical judgment before it comes to fruition. It takes time, knowledge and opinions to see multiple angles and variations for an idea to move forward.
Surely, GenAI can help you with inspiration and directions but the people involved are driving the idea or concept. While it is true that with AI the movement from an idea to execution can dramatically be made faster, we should still spend time on the originating idea.
What we need to be careful of, nevertheless, is the mono-culture that often arises from AI models. In many experiments I witness a single lane highway (e.g. revolving around one idea) with a lot of entries but no exits. The only one that can force that exit, is the person involved.
The benefit could be, that since speed is automatically gained, this shift would allow us to create more ideas, one after the other. But… it can also be just being faster and get on with another project. I’m not sure yet on what to expect.
What I do know, is that we should remember the concept of ‘kill your darlings’. If we all grow ‘fond’ of our designs and we are amazed how well AI supports us, there is a risk we forget the bigger picture that we serve. Therefore, please be ruthless eliminate and start over, even if you don’t like it!
Who masters the idea?
The article quite easily assumes that designers create the idea and move this all the way to the front-end. However, why would developers not use the same tools and move it forward, or product managers, or other parties involved, why not even the users themselves?
The statement “…it’s about AI giving designers a new level of leverage — automating the boilerplate so they can focus on behavior, interaction, and flow.” speaks more about current tasks of the UX designer, and not direct about the creative idea generation. I’m not yet fully convinced we’ll move out of our traditional roles for some time to come, but definitely I like the promise of closer collaboration due to a certain ‘force’ we all seem to accept as the direction we are all heading.
Who masters the execution?
The article states “Code-first design, where designers build functional prototypes using AI, is becoming the new default.” From my own experience there always has been a gap between designers and developers, not only in ways of working and focus area but mostly in mindset.
While it is great that designers can create functional prototypes, it does not mean it gets accepted as such, especially not when we all start with this new way-of-working. Developers have a keen eye for detail and corner use cases, and in my (humble) opinion they suffer a lot more from the “not developed here” syndrome. E.g. the work is not up to my par. Designers on the other hand focus more on being inspired, because they don’t have to re-use the design files as is but merely as a starting point to wander off from.
In my view, this will (initially) lead to skepticism and mistrust, where only close collaboration and an open mind from all parties involved will overcome this. In many projects in my past I have sometimes worked in such ‘pair-ups’, not because of the AI tool but because the shared interest and goal, the open minds and the fun we had while collaborating.
Will it improve collaboration?
I do love the term mentioned in the article: Shared momentum. It holds the promise that multiple functions are working on the same product in a high energy model. What is not entirely clear is who brings what, who owns what, and what is shared. Is it a revolving role-playing game, where everyone sits on each-others chairs whenever needed, or is it more traditional where everyone contributes more or less from their ‘function’ to the same shared goal?
The article advocates for removing the rigid swim-lanes, and also that it requires an org change. Above all, my statement remains it is a mindset change for all functions involved. As most company leaders know, you can re-organize an org, but if the people stay the same, it will be very hard to rewire current beliefs, mindset and culture. That is a nice and big challenge ahead of us!
Who masters the strategy
Besides writing about ideas, execution and collaboration, the article in the end moves to the overarching strategy of shaping & framing how and why what to build. The AI tools are now being used for exploration, not for design ideas-to-execution. In my view, this should be a separate article all together.
For example, I love the header “Innovation at the Speed of Curiosity“, but it is not about strategy, it is about idea-to-execution. It is about running ‘forward’, not about taking a moment to think where we are going. While I clearly see the relationship, the article would have been improved if the two concepts were more split up.
Conclusion
AI tools can improve the execution skills of a designer, just as much it can improve the idea skills of a developer. As the article says, it is about fluency and being hybrid. Whichever way it will go, there is definitely a movement of coming closer together and I can only cheer (and lead) that on.
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