The newest tool in my skillset but also the one most quickly reshaping the rest of it. It's quickly become a core part of my process, it's what I built this portfolio with!
As will be the same as many, I started using AI in my work in early 2025. It was mostly ChatGPT for content and thinking ideas through. It was useful, but it wasn't really part of my design process yet. This changed in early 2026 with the continuous improvements of the Claude suite. It's allowed for extensive ideating and rapid prototyping, something that would've previously only been available if there was ample time and budget in the project.
AI use has now become an expected part of my process, and for all product designers. It's not taking over my creative process (or my job I hope), but instead I'm allowing it to speed up parts that would be generally be time exhaustive, and making it an extension of myself.
The new AI buzz word! But this really is what it does.
I've found myself to be utilising AI at the beginning of a project for concept ideation and prototyping. I can produce a multitude of clickable concepts in the time it used to take to make a few light touch Figma frames. Once a direction has been agreed on for the design, I move back into Figma to begin hi-spec designs — this is still my preferred tool to produce precise designs. But instead of spending days designing and hooking up every interaction and state, I design the core frames to then pull back into Claude Code and Claude skills to flesh out a fully interactive product in a fraction of the time. I've found this to be an incredibly efficient way to test the designs, and catch any problems before I commit time to creating the final design.