AI isn’t the threat. Stagnation is.
The design industry’s changing fast. Here’s how to adapt, evolve, and stay valuable when the tools do the heavy lifting.
If you’ve been on Linkedin or Twitter lately (Nope, still not going to call it X), you’ll have seen the buzz around ChatGPT’s latest image generation update.
It feels like the right time to have a proper conversation about AI, and what it actually means for us as designers. Over the past three months, we’ve seen a wave of AI tools promising to make designing and building websites and products faster, easier, and more efficient. A few designers, like me, are leaning in hard. Others are running the other way. And some? They’re just publicly judging anyone who dares to embrace it.
But here’s the thing: this isn’t new. Tools have always evolved. It’s how we use them that matters. Sitting on the sidelines, shit-talking the curious, won’t protect you from the machines. 😉 So let’s rewind, because this kind of panic has happened before...
Tools have always changed, and they always will.
If you’ve been designing for a while, you’ll know the design tool landscape is constantly shifting. Lately, it just feels like it’s changing faster than ever.
When I started out as a graphic designer, we were hacking away in Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign, none of them really built for UI, but we made it work. Then came Sketch, which finally felt like a tool made for digital design. And that paved the way for the first truly collaborative design tool: Figma.
We’ve gone from exporting .PSD files with redlines and sprite sheets (Drop a comment if you remember those. And how your back feels after years hunched over a desk?) to working in real-time with engineers in shared design systems. Now AI is writing copy, generating UI, images, and spinning up prototypes in seconds.
Every time a new tool shows up, we’ve got a choice: ignore it, fear it, or explore it.
This resistance to new technology? It’s nothing new. Designers were sceptical when Photoshop and desktop publishing first landed in the ’80s. Entire pre-press teams had to retrain, and seasoned pros feared their craft would be lost to amateurs with a Mac. John Hitchings described it as “unwelcome” for many sectors of the industry as old-school skills became obsolete.
Photographers pushed back hard when digital cameras hit the scene, worried about losing the craft of film. Many claimed digital would devalue the art and ruin the profession. Their fear? That anyone with a camera could now call themselves a photographer. Frankly, it comes down to creatives’ ego and the need to feel special. Fstoppers covered the tension well, including the anxiety that digital was “too easy” and lacked the soul of traditional photography.
But spoiler: it didn’t ruin photography, it transformed it. By the mid-2000s, digital had overtaken film, and those who adapted helped shape the next era of the craft.
Not every new thing is worth adopting. I’m not saying you need to chase every trend or master every tool. But the key is to decide consciously. Saying “I gave it a go, and it’s not for me” is very different from pretending it doesn’t exist and hoping it’ll just go away. Or worse, trash-talking those who dare to try or even get excited about new ways of creating.
The designers who thrive with constant change? They’re the ones who stay curious — even when it’s uncomfortable. As tools change, so must we. And luckily, we’ve done it before.
So what do we do when the next shift is already happening? We get intentional.
What does “Getting intentional” actually look like?
The first step to getting intentional is letting go of outdated mindsets, like equating hours worked with value delivered. Especially for freelancers, but honestly for all of us: the faster tools get, the more crucial it is to stop selling time and start selling outcomes.
When clients say, “But it only took an hour,” the response isn’t to defend your effort, it’s to reframe the value. The hours aren’t what they’re paying for. They’re paying for your clarity. Your decisions. Your taste. As the “doing” gets faster, it’s your judgement and creativity is what becomes the differentiator.
For some, that intentionality could look like doubling down on strategic influence. As product designers grow in seniority, we naturally start shaping the what and why, not just the how. That’s where design starts to blur into product management. And in a world where speed is easy but direction is everything, design-led PMs might just be the most valuable ones in the room.
For others, intentional role evolution might mean leaning closer to engineering. I’ve been experimenting with AI tools and low-code platforms that let me bring ideas to life without waiting on dev handover. It’s fun. It’s fast. But it also makes me wish I could write the code myself. Not to ship production-ready stuff, but to think more fluently in prototypes.
No, designers don’t need to code. But understanding how things work under the hood? That’s powerful. It makes your ideas sharper and your feedback loops tighter. And let’s be real, tools are already starting to bridge the gap between design and code. Learning to code might not be essential forever, but right now? It’s a competitive edge.
I’ll go out on a limb here. I think the era of the generalist designer is having a moment.
Whether that means stepping closer to product strategy, or getting your hands dirty building what you design, AI is lowering the barrier to trying on new hats. Tools are moving faster, yes, but that speed creates space. Space to experiment. Space to stretch. Space to finally lean into the parts of the process you’ve always been curious about.
We’re not just being replaced. We’re being redefined. And that’s an opportunity
The point isn’t if you use AI tools or not. It’s that you choose one consciously.
AI isn’t the enemy. Tools aren’t the enemy. In fact, they’re not the focus at all. You are.
Your approach, your adaptability, your ability to communicate your value, that’s what defines your success as a designer. A frankly, that’s just solid life advice, but is incredibly important to your career.
You don’t have to be on the bleeding edge of every new tool. But you do have to stay aware, curious and most importantly reflective.
Because the real threat isn’t AI. It’s becoming stagnant in an industry built on change.
Until next time —
Liz 🎨
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