The death & rebirth of digital product design in AI era

AI era has caused significant disruption across many fields, but product design feels like one of its primary targets. The rapid improvement of AI tools, combined with constant competition among major tech players, has led to the release of AI tools that allow almost anyone to create their own products in no time.

This shift has had a major (largely negative) impact on professionals who were responsible for digital product design in the pre-AI era: UX designers, UI designers, product designers, accessibility specialists, and others.

A lot of people approached me asking how to adapt to this new reality, so I decided to craft a set of 5 rules I personally practice:

1️⃣ Invest in improving your critical thinking and taste

Taste and critical thinking are what will separate average product creators from exceptional ones in the AI era. Your workflow will increasingly revolve around analyzing AI-generated output and aligning it with user needs and business goals.

Critical thinking helps you articulate what you want

Taste helps you recognize and avoid mediocre output.

The goal of using AI isn’t to produce more design in less time; it’s to produce better design in less time.

2️⃣ Use AI tools as your companion in every step of the product design process

Actual AI tools don’t really matter; what matters is the person who uses the tool and how they use the tool. AI shouldn’t be treated as a one-off tool; it should be integrated into every stage of your workflow because the tools are just multipliers of your skills and abilities.

From early research and ideation to prototyping, testing, and implementation, AI can support and accelerate your work. The key is to shift your mindset: instead of “using AI when needed,” think of AI as a constant collaborator.

3️⃣ Forget about wireframing

Time is your most valuable resource. Don’t waste it creating static design artifacts, especially wireframes.

4️⃣ Don’t be obsessed over crafting “perfect” prompts

Focus on the task you’re trying to accomplish. One approach that helps me avoid overthinking prompts is using voice input. When I use voice in tools like Claude Code, I don’t worry about perfect phrasing; I focus on clearly expressing what I want to achieve. For me, voice is one of the most effective ways to interact with AI. It naturally shifts your attention away from wording and toward intent, which is what actually matters.

5️⃣ Learn basic coding skills

In the pre-AI era, UX/UI designers often said, “We don’t code! We are designers, not developers! ” That mindset is becoming less relevant. Today, many organizations don’t want to hire someone who only produces design artifacts. Instead, they’re looking for people who can bridge design and implementation.

The good news: you don’t need to become a coding expert.

What you do need is a solid foundation, such as basic coding skills that allow you to:

-Guide AI in specific situations

-Understand what’s being generated

-Validate and refine the output

📕 The state of product design in 2026: https://medium.com/ux-planet/the-death-of-digital-product-design-5b185496538a?sk=e812e403602ac475cf6c856688f4ae42

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