Panel: AI-Powered DesignOps: Shaping the Future of Design Excellence

Moderator

Jenny Price, DesignOps Lead & Manager, Business Process Transformation for the CIO, IBM

Panelists

Lisa Einat Day, Head of Brand Design, Innovation & Production NA, Kellanova (formally known as Kellogg's)

Tosha Brown, Design Lead and Operations Consultant, IBM

Greg Nudelman, Distinguished Designer, Sumo Logic

Jon Fukuda, Co-Founder, Limina

More info:

https://www.henrystewartconferences.com/events/design-operations-los-angeles-2024/session/events-design-operations-los-angeles-2024-track-1-ai-powered-designops-shaping-future-design

Here’s a brief summary of some of the themes we discussed on the panel:

From Pixels to Code: The AI Transformation

DesignOps is currently undergoing a monumental shift. Traditionally, designers have worked with images and assets, meticulously crafting visuals in tools like Figma. However, AI is poised to revolutionize this process.

As I said on the panel:

"We're at a threshold where we might no longer operate in pictures and assets… AI will enable us to go directly from a sketch to code. Designers will pull components into a form that already have real code behind them, complete with established contracts with the backend."

This shift means that the role of DesignOps will become even more critical. By managing these AI-driven components, DesignOps can ensure consistency, efficiency, and seamless integration between design and development.

Balancing Automation with Human Touch

Another important theme was the importance of discernment in adopting AI. While AI can automate interactions and processes, it's crucial to recognize where human involvement is irreplaceable.

"There's a time and place for making decisions on what AI can effectively automate versus where it's necessary to get messy with human emotion," John explained. "Connecting with people is not one of those places where we should let AI take over."

This sentiment underscores the need for designers to focus on the human aspects of their work—empathy, creativity, and connection—while leveraging AI for efficiency.

Holistic Implementation and Ethical Considerations

The entire panel agreed with Lisa’s sentiment of the importance of principles and ethics in AI adoption.

"Having the right principles in place is crucial," she said. "We need to determine what we hold sacred and what we're willing to automate. It's about finding that balance between efficiency and humanity."

Lisa advocated for piloting AI initiatives in small pockets to understand their impact fully before widespread implementation. This cautious approach ensures that while we embrace innovation, we don't lose sight of ethical considerations and the human element in design.

Leveraging Collective Knowledge with AI

Tosha highlighted an often-overlooked benefit of AI: its ability to tap into and organize vast amounts of organizational knowledge.

"Design organizations create countless artifacts—research notes, feedback, transcripts," Tosha pointed out. "AI can help us 'talk' to those documents, enabling us to access and utilize our collective knowledge more effectively."

By using AI to sift through and learn from past work, teams can avoid reinventing the wheel and build upon previous insights, leading to smarter and faster design decisions.

Preparing for the Future: Upskilling and Core Skills

As AI changes the landscape of design, the panelists agreed on the necessity of continuous learning and upskilling.

"If you're not in continuous learning mode right now, especially at a time of such massive disruption, you're doing yourself a disservice," John warned.

I echoed this sentiment, emphasizing that designers need to move beyond waiting for instructions and become proactive learners.

"So many designers have gotten complacent, waiting for product managers to provide requirements," I observed. "If your job now is to ‘paint by numbers’ using requirements provided by someone else, it's time to get reskilled. AI will handle efficiency; we need to focus on what humans do best—building relationships and leveraging our core skills."

AI as a Tool, Not a Replacement

The overarching theme of the discussion was clear: AI is a powerful tool that, when used responsibly, can enhance the field of design without replacing the invaluable human touch.

"AI is happening for us, not to us," Lisa affirmed. "We need to make sure we maintain and safeguard creativity and strategic thinking. It's about using AI as a tool while preserving the humanity in our work."

My Final Take-Away: The Time to Upskill is Now

In my UX for AI workshops around the world, many designers proudly told me:

“I don’t even pick up a mouse unless I have a Jira ticket with all the requirements.”

If that’s you, I have bad news:

Which means:

1. Simple requirements-driven design will no longer provide employment.

2. The role of the DesignOps will increase dramatically as the curators and custodians of code components.

3. To stay employed, you will need to focus on proactively driving innovation through Core skills of facilitating creative discussion, reconciling opposing viewpoints, and orchestrating and synthesizing research insights into novel solutions in line with how your company makes money.

Book Recommendation

Finally, I want to close with a book plug for all the DesignOps nerds out there:

The Design Conductors by Rachel Posman and John Calhoun. They knocked it out of the park with their talk at #DesignOpsLA!

The book provides several key frameworks for implementing and measuring the impact of DesignOps, which is critical if we are to show value in this age of greater efficiency driven by the integration of AI in all aspects of business. You can pre-order the book now: https://rosenfeldmedia.com/books/design-operations/ 

NOTE: This is NOT a paid endorsement. I won a copy of the book at the conference and was honestly very impressed with it and Rachel and John’s talk, which was one of the most practical and coherent views of DesignOps I’ve heard in… well, in forever, actually.

I hope you find it as useful as I have — enjoy!

Greg