Ai tools that are useful for product designers now
Get better at asking questions and offering context behind prompts. Approach Ai like you approached Solidworks. You can be skilled in Solidworks but only from being knowledgeable about the software and skilled at problem solving, physics and the components being modelled. Ai is more useful when you know how to communication with it, understand how you learn, and be able to prioritize information in your prompt.
Ai is the best research tool available and gathering research data is the best aspect of this tool. Tell Bard or Bing that you are a product designer looking for a plethora of Anthropometry resources and it will provide lists of great resources with explanations. Do this with design resources, design principles, psychology and other areas of study.
Define your design direction and Ai will brainstorm ideas. Now generate ideas back and forth to offer the Ai direction so you get more specific ideas in return. It gives you recommendations for features and attributes of a design based on design principles online, but you can tell it to be flexible with design principles.
Presentation structures can be created as text, use Canva to generate images and templates to start from. The Ai text is good but use context to prevent vague recommendations. Follow up with finding anticipated audience questions based on your presentation. While making the presentation, use Ai for tips on display design and presentation design principles.
Ask Ai to create analogies for concepts you struggle grasping. People learn through stories and comparisons and analogies are a fast and insightful way to achieve that. Use Ai to teach you things faster than searching on a web browser.
Bother to talk shop with it like you would a brilliant, senior peer. Be upfront that you want to learn more about how American Anthropometric databases stemmed from pilots getting too large for aircraft after World War II. The real way you learn is to chat design and have it find stories or case studies for you.
Ask a question and a follow up question in the same prompt for detailed responses. I use this method to get a thorough answer (a few paragraphs) as opposed to one question which sometimes leads to shorter replies. Often times you will need to tell Ai to explain in detail and what thoughts to consider, but it can read between your lines. If you have a verbose prompt, it will usually reply with paragraphs of data. Give attention to how Ai understands you.
When you get stuck, the quick fix is turning to Ai. Everyone could invest more effort into critical thinking. And excessive Ai dependency will make thought more challenging for users. Humans are still finding a balance with phones for communication so take Ai concerns at a similar level. This is a habit designers need to develop in order to keep up. You can put money on it that students at design schools are finding ways to make this useful and they will bring it with them into the workforce.
Use Ai to dip into rabbit holes of information. One trouble with design is there are a million rabbit holes to go down. Some of them are worth it and sometimes it’s hard to know which is worth the effort. Ai lets you dig a little deeper and a little faster than we could before.
Consider how you can use this tool in your own unique way. The hard part will be picking up new uses and building habits. Start now and have the know-how later when others are just discovering Ai’s uses over the next few months.