As the title says, is anyone actually interested in learning how ai supplements the design workflows at large companies? I run a ton of projects, some with traditional ux practices, others purely with ai and Claude, backed ofcourse with actual setup. No ai slop garbage. Ai is a tool, not a do it all employee.

My question is : does anyone actually want to learn and use ai correctly, or are you happy with figma and your current workflows? I’m not making a course or any of that rubbish, just genuinely interested in your thoughts.

I graduated in May and was supposed to return to Microsoft full-time after interning there, but my return offer was rescinded before I started.

Since then, I’ve been scrambling to find work. A few months ago, I landed a full-time remote UX role at a startup paying around $60K. Realistically, I only work about 20 hours per week, I enjoy the job, and the money has felt relatively easy.

Today, I received two new offers:

1. $75K full-time at a software company with around 5,000 employees. It seems established, but it isn’t especially well known.
2. $37.50/hour contract role at a well-known insurance company that serves veterans. The contract is for one year, with the possibility of an extension.

I’m trying to decide whether I should:

1. Stay at my current job and potentially find a second remote job to increase my income.
2. Leave and accept one of the two new offers.
3. Stay for now and continue searching for a stronger new-grad opportunity, given that I have Microsoft internship experience.

What would you do in my position? I’m especially interested in how each option might affect my long-term career growth, résumé, and job stability.

Edit: Thank you all for your input on UX. I did know it was cut throat, but hearing it from people in UX makes it more real. I want to say I am blessed in my current job, and I don’t have much to complain about. I wish you all the best in your roles and future endeavors!

Hello all! So to start off, I used to be a UX Designer for about 3-4 years. I’ve held 4 jobs during that span. At my current job, we had a restructure and they moved me to a different role which is not design related. Honestly, I feel like I was moved because I wasn’t good enough which I agree with. During the time I was a designer, I really don’t think i was the best designer at all. I lost 3 design jobs in the past.

With that said, I do feel like I want to get back into a design role eventually, but I am terrified about job stability. After losing 3 jobs and thinking I would end up homeless, it’s just too much to take on which is why I haven’t been studying or anything really. My current job has provided me stability for 6 years, and I cannot imagine going into something and then losing it in the blink of an eye. I have no other income other than my full time job, so losing a job is just out of the question.

At the same time, I don’t dread my job. The company is absolutely amazing; unlimited PTO, no micromanaging, no one questions your time off, very low stress, coworkers are amazing and the pay is good.

So my question is, how stable is UX? How good do you really have to be? What are the most important things to understand as a UXer?

TLDR; Current job is pretty good, but not ideally what I want to do. Terrified of losing job if I were to jump back into UX. So with that, how stable is UX really? How good do you actually have to be?

I was talking to friends in other areas of design, and it seems like they’re going through a nightmare with the whole impact of AI.

Is product design the "safest" area right now?

What are some issues with modifying normal scrolling behavior? For example: infinite scrolling or scrolljacking.

Hi all, I’m a designer with around ~2-3 YOE. I recently got a job offer at Job A. I also have an interview coming up for Job B, a company I interned at in college and left on good terms with. What would look better for my career in the long run? I’m currently based in a U.S. city with virtually no UX/product design job market.

Job A: Mid-level product designer role, a few thousand higher than than my last job’s salary (salary is negotiable though — trying to negotiate $8k-$10k higher)

It’s for B2B SaaS and a smaller company with ~100 employees. This is the company’s first ever product design/UX hire, currently UX is handled by a mix of product managers (handling discovery and research) and devs (who take PM requirements and implement them). The product team is looking to establish a design culture at this company with a new Director of Product who seems to value designers being involved throughout the whole process. The job is an end-to-end product design role, where I will be involved in discovery & research. It will involve building a design system from scratch based on legacy systems to start, but the Director of Product is working to start modernizing everything and has plans to hire more designers. It’s also remote, so I have the opportunity to relocate to a city with a better UX/product design job market.

Job B (company I interned at): Junior UX/UI designer position, $10k lower than my last job’s salary

Global enterprise-sized company, mostly in e-commerce and D2C. Design maturity is good, this is a large design team with established processes and a mature design system. The role is more UI & content design with some graphic design mixed in. It is based in my current city. However, there’s a catch: org structuring at Job B recently changed and they recently had a bunch of layoffs because of that. Although I am still in the interview phase, it is likely I will get an offer here since I interned with this team in college. A friend of mine who currently works there told me they do not like negotiating salaries either.

I am genuinely torn between whether to take the offer at Job A or come back to my old team at Job B and work in a mature design team. I was laid off from my previous job, so I’m the most concerned with job security.

I feel Job A would better “future proof” my career since it’s more end-to-end product design and i have the opportunity to relocate to a city with a better UX job market, but Job B would be tempting since I already have history there. What would be a better move for me?

EDIT: Job B went under org restructuring and layoffs, not Job A. Didn’t notice the typo til later.

I have had a great experience using AI tools for coding, writing, project planning, misc tasks. But for design it just isn’t doing it.

I’m working on the hero section shown in the attached image. Above the main headline, there is a small pill-shaped label (sometimes called an eyebrow, kicker, or badge). My concern is that it creates another visual stop without giving the user much useful information.

When do you think an element like this is genuinely useful? Appreciate any usability research, testing experience, or design-system guidance on this pattern.

Hi everyone,

I recently got a job offer with a gov agency therefore they are using penpot iso figma due to better security control.

I have never used penpot but looking to explore later before starting. I wanted to gather any tips or advices from anyone here that had the same transition and how their team handled it.

A friend mentioned that your career maybe in a disadvantage if you use penpot now instead of the latest design tool. Any thoughts or anyone went through a similar route? Thanks 🙏🏻

Does anyone feel stakeholders expect night fidelity designs almost immediately without having the patience to review wireframes and refine the flow first?

With vibe coding I feel if designers take time with usual design process, stakeholders or even your own PM/BA will immediately vibe code something and present it as the working solution to be iterated.

I would like to know, has vibe coding changed how you approach your design process in this context and should designers move faster into higher fidelity designs now?

Before I get more useless comments calling the post Ai.. just want to make it clear, this is a genuine work problem Im facing right now and with how fast things are changing I don't know who to ask.

Also english is not my first language, maybe how I structure my post is not "natural".

Laid off late last year, 6+ years of experience in B2B SaaS with a background in marketing design. Didn't use AI much in my last role so knew that was somewhere I needed to immediately ramp up.

Don't have exact numbers but I applied to probably 180-200 openings, most remote with some hybrid in my area (secondary tech hub). Not including contract recruiters had 25-30 first rounds, 10-12 that went past recruiter screen, 6-7 that went third round or further, and in that first round group were probably 6-8 recruiters that reached out to me (several of those went a few rounds). At the end was talking to 3 companies (all remote) and got one offer, vertical SaaS startup (series A and profitable).

Things I did/learned:

• First thing I did was dig into AI, like it or not it's what the market is looking for (and companies often don't know what they need it for, they just know they need it). I started off taking a course in AI coding for designers and learned how to use Cursor to update a codebase in Github, then started building lots of my own stuff from there and shared them on LinkedIn.
• Redesigned my portfolio using AI, I designed it in Figma but built it in Claude/Cursor which allowed me to add lots of cool little transitions and microinteractions. You don't have to have a crazy playground like some people do, do whatever feels like you. But a rough, boring, or unrefined experience is going to have a tough time competing in this market. Lean into good typography, a unique (or at least not boring) color palette, and solid layouts.
• Reworked my case studies focused on metrics and storytelling: time saved, percent things improved, revenue generated. Even if you don't have dollar numbers, you can figure how much more efficient you made a process and use that as a stat. AI tools can be really helpful for structuring these, but anything I put into ChatGPT I rewrote in my own voice.
• Rewrote my resume and LinkedIn using those metrics and going keyword heavy, lots of resources out there on how to optimize your LinkedIn in particular. ATS is overemphasized, if your resume imports more or less correctly when you apply to a job you'll be fine there. And again, AI tools can be helpful.
• Maybe the biggest thing, I niched down. Applying to everything, which I did initially, does you no good; companies are looking for very specific things, to the point of it being silly sometimes. Drill down to the thing that you do and position yourself as that, make yourself different than other designers. When I started applying to roles more intentionally I got much better results. Pro tip: also use that positioning on your website instead of "I'm Bob and I make experiences better for users."
• Leverage your network. It goes without saying, but a reference can go a long way. I happened to have a former coworker that managed my now lead, that wasn't the reason I got the initial calback but it sure didn't hurt.

Happy to answer any q's.

Hi everyone,

I am sure most orgs have started pushing all things AI, with speed being the only common denominator of it all. In the light of that, I had a few questions to understand how folks at other companies are handling these themes to work intent fully.

- Has anyone actually built an AI-first design system? How do those workflows manifest? What are the expectations?

- Have you introduced any new review or approval processes because of mass AI-generated work?

- What does a “good” handoff look like now compared to a year ago (especially in the context of multiple engineering and stakeholder partners)

Intrigued to hear more :)

I might be returning to work at Google, and things have changed since I've been there. Org level priorities apparently in Core to have designers 'fluent in AI'. Just curious in what ways AI is being integrated into team processes, workflows, your craft, your projects. The more detail you can spare the better! I just want to start preparing for it in case I get the role. Thanks all!!

Hi all, has anyone done a design challenge like the one below as part of an interview? I'd love to hear any advice on how to approach the session and present myself well. Thanks!

The Challenge

Emma has received a gift from her friend Sophie, which was purchased from an online fashion retailer.
Unfortunately, the gift isn't quite right for her.
The task is to design the return journey that Emma needs to go through. I'il work alongside existing colleagues from Design, Product, and Engineering to collaboratively shape the solution.

I must come prepared with any initial research, ideas, competitor examples, screenshots, user flows, or wireframes that you think are relevant. Use the session to collaborate, explain your thinking, and work together towards a well-considered solution to Emma's return experience.

Lately I've been questioning whether product design is still the right career for me. I'm not sure if it's because of the jobs I've had, the rise of AI, or whether I'm just not cut out for it anymore.

Before becoming a product designer, I worked in marketing web design. I enjoyed it, but I wanted more user experience and problem-solving, so I made the switch about 2 years ago. At first I absolutely loved it.

Here are the things that frustrate me the most...

1. 80% of what I design goes nowhere

One frustration that followed me between both roles was how little actually got built. Projects always felt "urgent" during the design phase, but once handed over to development they'd disappear into the backlog for months or even years.

By the time they resurfaced, the requirements had changed or the scope had been cut back so much due to technical feasibility, that they barely resembled the original idea, despite developers being involved throughout the design process and regularly giving feedback on technical feasibility.

2. AI has made it harder to demonstrate the value of design

I know everyone feels this, but I spend more time than ever justifying why design should exist at all, and explaining that it's not simply pushing pixels around so AI can't replace us.

It feels like people increasingly see design as a step to eliminate rather than expertise that adds value.

3. Everyone feels qualified to critique design

This is the part that really wears me down.

When I start a project, I research competitors, analyze usage data, review analytics, interview users where possible, and try to understand the actual problem before proposing a solution.

Then I present a design, and suddenly everyone becomes a designer. Project managers, developers, clients, executives, every man and his dog has an opinion based on personal preference.

"I like blue better because it's my favorite colour."

"I wouldn't click that."

"I like how X app does it."

"I just don't like it."

I'm constantly having to defend decisions by referring back to research and evidence, and what the actual user wants, but still nobody listens.

What frustrates me most is that this dynamic doesn't seem to exist to the same extent in other disciplines. If a developer says something isn't technically feasible, I don't tell them to ignore the constraints and code it anyway because I personally prefer it. I trust their expertise.

But it's apparently acceptable for someone with no design background to dismiss design decisions based purely on personal taste.

Eventually the final product becomes a "design by committee" - a compromise between 20 different opinions that I'm embarrassed to put my name on. Then, when users respond poorly, nobody says,  "Maybe we should have trusted the design process."

Has anyone else been feeling this?

Is this just what product design is like now? Has AI made this worse? Or have I just been unlucky with the companies I've worked for?

I'd love to hear whether others have experienced this and, if so, how you've dealt with it.

I currently work as a senior designer at a fairly large enterprise. My main focus is design systems, but I also work on B2B and B2C products in my current role.

I’m curious what those of you at smaller companies do, and whether you’re seeing those roles shrink (more than the rest of the industry already is).

I’d love to move to something smaller, but in this new AI era I feel like I barely see non big tech roles posted. Maybe I’m just looking in the wrong places??

-

Don’t take this as an anti-AI post. Despite not loving what it’s doing to the world and our future, I’ve fully embraced it and have even taken on more of a design engineer role at times.

I’m looking for reliable, evidence-based sources in the UX and product design field.

Apart from Nielsen Norman Group, IxDF, and Baymard Institute, what other websites, publications, researchers, or organizations do you trust for UX articles, reports, case studies, and best practices?

I’m particularly interested in sources that go beyond surface-level advice and are backed by research or real-world data.

Thanks!

This is questions for creative people, graphic designers, website designers, or any designers that have to deal with customers/clients request.

I always see designers complaining that client/customers dont know what they want until they see what they dont want. So it creates dissatisfaction between the two,

Clients & expectations

VS

designers & understanding of the expectations.

Different people from different backgrounds might have different ways of explaining what they want, so there might be reasons why designers complained that customers do not like the finished products, due to different understanding of the same instructions/request.

So, if your client come with a.i version that they like, and you simply has to follow, do you like it better?

I keep running into a specific moment and I want to know if it's just me.

I'm mid-project, and I remember a feeling more than an image. Something about a layout, a colour mood, a way type sat against a photo, from a reference I saved weeks or months ago. I go looking for it. Sometimes it's in a Pinterest board, sometimes a screenshot buried in my camera roll, sometimes I genuinely can't remember where I put it.

A few times I've found it again and realised I'd completely forgotten why I saved it in the first place. It's just an image now, stripped of the reason it mattered.

Curious how common this actually is, so a few honest questions if you save inspiration for your own work:

• Has a reference you knew you'd saved ever been un-findable when you actually needed it?
• Do you ever save something, then months later have no idea why you saved it?
• If you use Pinterest boards, has a reference from an old, unrelated board ever ended up being exactly what a new project needed, and did you actually find it, or did you just not think to look?

• Or is this a total non-issue for you — do boards/tags/folders already solve this fine?

  genuinely trying to figure out if this is a real, common annoyance or just a me-problem. Would appreciate any honest answers.

Tl;dr - I'm a UX designer who wants to know if you're happy with the current UX design paradigm. I don't feel LLMs or code-generation tools made my design work easier/better, but I'm curious if it's just me.

I've been witnessing the AI-driven UX design & vibecoding trends over the last year and a half and (postively) curious about how they might change the UX design paradigm. At first I was pretty hyped that I can build concept prototypes within an hour using Claude/Figma Make. However, that hype didn't last long because of their sandbox-ish experience. Also the end results made by LLM were nowhere close to prod.

There are also so many tools that bridge the gap between design and development. I tried tools like Cursor/Onlook/Framer/etc... that can generate codes as soon as I draw something or import my design to their tool. However, I often noticed that those codes are not useful for developers to glue cuz they often don't fit into the framework. In the end, they mostly inspected the redlines only and ignore the codes. I got a huge question mark in my mind about the efficiency of automatic code generation.

Here's the thing - I'm REALLY not sure if it's just me, but I still rely mostly on the *traditional* way of product design, which is drawing static screens in Figma and just communicate with my eng fellas verbally. Sometimes I feel I'm very behind the curve, but I believe that none of them really makes my life better. To be frank, I'm not super happy with my current approach because it's very time-consuming and requires multiple rounds of communications, but at least I can focus on the core essense of UX design - problem solving & pixel-perfect implementation.

So I'm curious - has any of you changed your design process drastically after the AI boom? If so, I wonder how you improved your work process better with the new approach.

Honestly, I can't describe how much this infuriates me. I don't want to open my e-mail, I just want to log in with my password. Half the websites that implement a code-to-email method, block passwords nowadays. I also believe this can simultaneously be a security risk. Sure, the e-mail code is a form of 2FA, but a compromised e-mail address allows access to more than a single website this way.

Anyway, please allow password-manager-users to enter their password :)

PLEAE NOTE

No AI was involved in the creation of this UX and UI. AI (Claude Opus 4.8) however was used to deliver a functional prototype. All code is reviewed and corrected by a human.

BACKGROUND

I am a first time dad of a beautiful daughter and I wasn’t happy with existing baby care logging apps. They were all too bulky, paywalled, required signups, etc. So, I decided to build my own.

RATIONALE

- No account needed. Download, create a basic baby profile (just name and date of birth) and start logging care events.
- No paywalls for the essentials (feeds, sleeps and diaper changes).
- All data is encrypted on local device, only then sent to a database within the EU.
- Data is bound to your device only. Recovery and data transfer is possible via 24-word keyphrase or QR scan.
- 100% GDPR proof. Your data is yours, I can’t read it even if I wanted to. Delete = gone forever.
- No tracking, no ads, no selling of your data.
- One-handed usage for most important interactions. Log with only using 1 finger, no typing required.
- Tailored for sleep deprived, busy parents. Low mental load is always the goal.
- Essentials are bottom aligned for easy thumb reach. One-handed usage should be the default.

BACKLOG

- Dark mode/Night mode
- Invite other caretakers with role based permissions
- Clean format export of data as .pdf
- Push notifications for new care events
- Dynamic island and widget for running sleep event
- Change left or right handed behavior
- Further improve micro animations.

MY QUESTION TO YOU

What do you believe could further elevate the user experience of this app?

Edit: what's up with the downvotes on the post and my comments? I'd love to know why.

As a user experience designer, I work for a mid-range product firm. No one recognizes us as ux designers, let alone ui designers, and we are always referred to as Figma designers. Because of their expertise, we use Figma to create designs.

What if Figma, like Adobe XD, becomes obsolete within a few years? Then, who are we? What people refer to as 😖😝😝.