Designer Diaries: Our discourse with AI towards customized design

September 21, 2024

UX designers often face creative blocks, making conceptualization and execution challenging, particularly when working under tight deadlines. Traditional design workflows can be time-consuming and relatively less productive. Hence in an attempt to rapidly generate new ideas, visualize complex information, and interact with the team, we chose to blend AI for the design process.

So what role does AI play in the design process?

Harnessing the power of AI to enhance human creativity can directly help enhance productivity. FigJam AI was our first choice to experiment with for an in-house website design project. Figjam has many interesting features that can take your creativity to the next level.It provides a range of templates to streamline design and instantly generate workflows. There are templates for mind mapping, Gantt charts, user personas, and customer journey maps. In this article, we will explore some of the exciting features of FigJam AI that can be simply put to use.

Running low on ideas? FigJam AI can spark your creativity. FigJam is particularly useful for brainstorming. While working for an event listing website, I was stumped at first. So, we started by organizing the ideas and creating a mind map using FigJam. We began with the core idea and added sub-ideas as branches. With the prompt “Connecting People through Knowledge,” FigJam made a mind map of ideas for an event listing website. FigJam also facilitates real-time collaboration within teams, allowing seamless interactions. We relied heavily on FigJam for the creation of mindmaps during the initial phases of our design process.

Creating User Workflows

What if we opt to explore a topic further? Try using FigJam AI’s workflow generation option which lets one create workflows in a nick of time, which would otherwise be time-consuming. Transform words into visuals. Text becomes diagrams, flowcharts, and mind maps. We tried to test diverse prompts in Figjam AI to unlock its full potential. Each iteration refines outputs, aligning them with design goals and the user needs.

With the input of text-based prompts, FigJam gives strong suggestions. We used the prompt, “Find experience and teachers in the region,” and take a look at the FigJam AI response. It lists a lot of workflows. Although only some suggestions are a perfect fit, we recommend using Figjam AI when coming against a wall owing to creative blockages.

The website design you’re looking at is our event listing platform, “TryStuff.” We started with the logo design using Illustrator. We tested different color palettes, fonts, and visuals. This was to create design concepts that fit the brand. FigJam AI assisted us in crafting workflows, though our website’s design remains wholly bespoke.FigJam AI assisted us in crafting workflows, though our website’s design remains wholly bespoke. To ensure the final design perfectly captures your brand message, we combined AI technology with personalized creativity. FigJam AI was instrumental in suggesting concepts and sharing ideas.

Custom Website Design of “TryStuff”

In our opinion, FigJam is a highly intuitive tool but has its own limitations. Though it gives excellent suggestions, mere suggestions don’t conclude the design process. It’s important to realise that UX design is a continuous process that involves multiple cycles of refinement, and ongoing improvement. Hence it is a highly iterative process. For instance, a designer may use FigJam to generate the initial concept design and make subsequent revisions to create a design that truly resonates with the project’s objectives.

By combining the strength of generative AI with human creativity and critical thinking, designers can effectively utilize FigJam AI to enhance their work.

- Prakash, Jenifer