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Design in the age of AI: the death of PMs & engineers

AI & economic pressures lead to an inevitable future—one where Designers do more while PMs & Engineers may disappear.

Ryan Ford
UX Collective

A woman, probably a designer, reviews a magazine or printed material in an Apple-computer-laden cubicle space.
Photo by Mina Rad on Unsplash

“Should designers code?”

A question that has fueled spirited debates for years. Purists argue that Designers should focus on their craft — user needs, storytelling, and strategy. Pragmatists counter that coding empowers Designers, giving them more control over their creations. For decades, this debate hinged on whether coding was a necessary skill, ignoring the fact that coding requires a different manner of thinking than design typically does, relegating the code-writing-designer to an oft-ignored unicorn-like status.

But today, with AI tools like ChatGPT and GitHub Copilot lowering the barriers to coding, the question has evolved.

The real issue isn’t whether Designers should code, but why shouldn’t they just…do it all?

As technology accelerates and roles converge, Designers and engineers find themselves merging into a new hybrid: the UI Developer aka Design Engineer (referred to subsequently just as a UI Developer). This shift is inevitable, driven by tools, efficiencies, and the…

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Responses (14)

There’s no way in hell you’ll find someone who can design and code effectively using the current ‘AI’ tech. It’s not even close. Twenty years ago they called this elusive person the ‘purple squirrel’. Doesn’t exist. And in my opinion will never…

Appreciate the work you put into this. I've been curious about the UX community's openness to AI for a while now. I spend most of my time in AI research world (whitepapers) as that's where it's "happening" still. Which leads me to ask: What about…

In general it's a hazard to let engineers design even icons haha. Designers using AI to code may give them a false sense of security, just as engineers get a false sense of security when they say "oh let me make this icon for you in Photoshop."…