How AI is Redefining the Creative Process
Presented as a screenplay — A Day in the Life of Sam and their AI design assistant Atlas
A lot of people are concerned that AI will eliminate design jobs, but I am optimistic that it will allow us to be even more creative and productive than ever before. It may even help create environments that are more inclusive by automating different things for different people (tuning itself to each unique person) and levelling the playing field for all.
I started to imagine what it would be like to use AI in all different aspects of our day to day design tasks. What are the things it would eliminate… how would it make things faster and easier… and where will it let us multiply our creativity?
Naturally I did this with the help of ChatGPT (which was a lot of fun) and at the end of our collaborative session — and it really did feel collaborative — I asked it to write all our ideas as short film.
This is the resulting script. Enjoy.
[Title Card] A Day in the Life of Sam and their AI design assistant Atlas
[Opening shot] Sam walks through the glass doors of a modern, open-plan office building, and heads to their cubicle. They greet their colleagues and sit down at their desk. Camera pans to their computer screen.
Narrator: Meet Sam, a designer who works on enterprise cybersecurity software. Let’s see what their day looks like when enhanced with AI.
Sam: [logging into their computer we see Atlas their AI design assistant pop up and say hello] Good morning, Atlas. Let’s dive into the redesign of the onboarding flow. What do we have so far?
Atlas: [Atlas gives a thumbs up] Hey Sam, based on the stakeholder interviews you asked me to conduct, I have some insights on what they are looking for. [Atlas shares the insights and a highlight reel from the interviews] They really care about improving trial conversions and reducing time to value. I also realized that our research team had great data on buyer behaviours so I have summarized that for you as well. Take a look, and I'll make sure to reference it as appropriate while we work.
Sam: [nods, sips their coffee and reviews the summary data and video] Great, this is awesome insight, let’s work on the user flows. [Camera shows split screen with Sam on one side and Atlas on the other. As Sam iterates on the flows using primarily text and voice prompts, Atlas continually provides suggestions and feedback in real-time on how the changes will likely affect time to value, conversion or even accessibility.] Atlas also points out a couple edge cases and error conditions that were not considered — it looks and sounds very much like a conversation.
Narrator: Atlas is like a superpowered sidekick that’s been trained on a vast dataset of successful design patterns, business data and user behaviors. It’s like having an entire design team sitting next to you.
Sam: [stretching in their chair] Phew, this design stuff is exhausting. Can you order me a coffee, Atlas?
Atlas: [sarcastically] Sure, Sam. Because that’s what I was built for. [pauses] But, seriously, how about we take a break and check out this case study I found on successful onboarding programs? It might give us some inspiration for our redesign.
Sam: [sips their coffee] Great idea, Atlas. Let’s take a look.
[Cut to a shot of Sam conducting user testing with the help of AI-powered tools that the research team provides them]
Narrator: After a quick coffee, Sam made a couple tweaks to the flows and asked Atlas to generate an interactive prototype to test with some virtual customers before moving forward with page level design.
[Sam is shown choosing a persona from a baseball-style card on screen.]
Sam: Today, let’s test with Cam, the Chief Information Security Officer.
Cam: [the virtual customer responds with feedback relevant to a CISO] At step two you are asking for information that will require my security team to meet with the networking team and this will add a lot of time to the setup. Can we streamline this collaboration in some way?
Atlas: [provides a suggestion for how this might be resolved] Sam, here’s a suggestion for how we can address Cam’s concern.
Sam: [accepts the suggestion] That’s a great idea, Atlas. Let’s add that to the next iteration.
Narrator: By testing with different personas, Sam is able to identify user needs and requirements that may have been overlooked otherwise.
[Cut to a shot of Sam preparing for a review meeting with the engineering team.]
Sam: Atlas, can you help me check if the proposed feature is possible given any technical limitations?
Atlas: [uses their technical wizardry to identify any issues] Ah-ha! There’s a technical limitation that may prevent us from implementing this feature as intended. However, I have a couple of alternative solutions we could consider.
Sam: [sighs] Why do these technical limitations always come up at the worst time? But, thanks for the alternative solutions, Atlas. Let’s collaborate with the engineering team to find the best solution.
[Cut to a shot of Sam and the engineering team brainstorming solutions to the technical limitation.]
Sam: [yawns and checks the time] I think it’s time for me to head out. Anything else we need to tackle before I go?
Atlas: Actually, there’s a new article that just came out about design trends in the industry. Would you like me to summarize it for you?
Sam: [smiling] Always looking out for me, Atlas. Yes, please summarize it for me.
Narrator: With Atlas’s help, Sam stays up-to-date on the latest design trends and best practices, despite not being able to see visual examples.
[Closing shot: Sam shuts down their computer and picks up their white cane. The camera pans out to reveal Sam walking confidently through the bustling city streets.]
Narrator: Thanks to Atlas, Sam was able to create a seamless and engaging onboarding experience for their organization’s customers. With the power of AI, Sam and Atlas make the perfect design team complimenting each other’s strengths.
In summary, I think AI will help designers and design teams in two fundamental ways:
1. We often do not have the time and resources to be completely successful as designers and AI will surely assist us. It will help with deeper insights, more iteration and better testing, all of which will free up space for more creativity.
2. We need to build more diverse and inclusive teams and AI will help in every aspect from building those diverse teams to maintaining a level playing field for everyone to be successful.
I am excited for what the future brings. How do YOU feel?
Reach out and let me know.
