Unlearn, Adapt, and Thrive—or Fade to Irrelevance

Future of AI-Driven Design (2025 and Beyond)

Every major technological revolution—from hand printing to the printing press, print to computers and the internet, and internet to mobile—has forced designers to unlearn old habits and adapt to new paradigms. The rise of AI is no different, in fact, the stakes are higher. As Mark Twain wisely said, “History doesn’t repeat itself, but it often rhymes.”

Designers today are already facing an unsettling and growing challenge of ceding control to AI and business goals. As Fabricio Teixeira and Caio Braga point out in their article "The State of UX in 2025: A Love Letter About Change," this shift threatens to diminish designers' influence, reduce their decision-making role, and ultimately, push them toward irrelevance. As depicted in the movie Wall-E, unchecked reliance on technology risks making us passive and disconnected.

But how can we prepare for such seismic change?

Technological Revolutions and Lessons

Looking back at past technological revolutions reveals a key truth: success in one era rarely carries over without a fundamental transformation. Reflecting on these shifts offers key lessons for thriving in the age of AI.

Hand Printing to the Printing Press: The Birth of Scale

Gutenberg’s printing press led to scalability and efficiency, shifting focus from handcrafted designs to optimized layouts for mass production. Creators had to shift focus to the needs of broader audiences rather than bespoke outputs.

Print to Computers and the Internet: From Static and Local to Dynamic and Global

The digital era replaced static layouts with dynamic, interactive systems, from analog to digital, embracing pixels. Designers prioritized interaction, accessibility, speed, and scalability. The internet brought networked experiences, requiring real-time responsiveness and adaptability, transforming static local designs into instantly accessible global experiences.

Internet to Mobile: From Stationary to On-the-Go

Smartphones transformed design by shifting from feature-rich desktop experiences to focused, single-purpose applications with touch interactions. Designers had to unlearn static, desktop-centric workflows and adapt to smaller screens, shorter attention spans, and on-the-go multitasking users. Mobile apps embraced responsive design and minimalist approaches, providing exactly what users needed while optimizing on-device and cloud-powered processes.

AI Era: From Control to Co-Creation

Unlike past tools, AI is unpredictable. It’s not something designers dictate to; it’s a partner that evolves, innovates, and surprises. Thriving in this future requires a radical shift: embracing unpredictability, guiding experiences, prioritizing trust, and fostering collaboration. Designers must shed outdated assumptions, biases, and methods that no longer serve them and adapt to this new paradigm—or risk being left behind.

Things Designers Must Unlearn in the AI Era

Each past leap forward demanded a new approach. Like those revolutions, AI challenges us to rethink how we create, collaborate, and serve users.

1. Let Go of Control and Perfection

AI is inherently probabilistic and messy, requiring designers to unlearn the need for precise control and predictable outcomes. Instead of dictating every detail, from individual screens to UI components, designers must embrace generative thinking and systems design. Provide AI with your design system and parameters, and let it generate UI on the fly. Focus on the holistic system, considering all modalities, touchpoints, and individual user interactions. AI has the potential to shape the product uniquely for each user, so designers must create adaptable frameworks that guide AI while allowing flexibility and evolution. For example, imagine a shopping AI agent that predicts rain, knows you'll walk your dog, and arranges an early morning umbrella delivery as it learns uniquely about the user.

Designers need to shape these proactive, intelligent experiences by letting go of assumptions about finality or polished perfection. Embracing uncertainty, they must build dynamic, ever-evolving systems. To keep pace with AI's evolving capabilities, designers must adopt a growth mindset and commit to continuous learning. Beyond understanding current generative AI like LLMs, designers should anticipate trends such as enhanced reasoning, context awareness, and predictive insights.

2. Reimagine "User-First" & Embrace Co-Creation

The traditional "user-first" approach treats users as passive recipients of pre-designed solutions. With AI, this mindset must evolve into a co-creation model where users actively shape outcomes in real time. For example, a fitness app in the user-first model might offer fixed workout plans based on input. In a co-creation approach, the app starts with a basic plan but adapts dynamically based on real-time feedback, like skipped exercises or changes in intensity.

This approach remains user-centric but reframes users as collaborators, empowering them to dynamically influence outcomes. Co-creation also promotes user agency, prioritizing autonomy and ensuring users stay in control of their experiences by avoiding manipulative practices and offering clear choices. By leveraging AI's adaptability, co-creation supports personalized, evolving solutions that enable users rather than simply serving them.

3. Leave Best Practices and Shift to First Principles Thinking

Relying on past frameworks and "best practices" will limit innovation in the AI era. Designers must unlearn traditional methods and embrace first principles thinking—deconstructing problems to their core truths and building solutions from the ground up.

For example, instead of simply refining music recommendation algorithms like those on Spotify or YouTube, a first principles approach asks: What’s the real goal? It’s not just better suggestions—it’s creating an emotional journey. Imagine an AI DJ that adapts to real-time context—your mood, activity, or even heart rate—curating dynamic, personalized soundscapes. By thinking from the ground up, designers can unlock AI's potential to create entirely new solutions.

4. Move Beyond Static Personas

Static personas no longer suffice. Initially created to simplify design with broad user parameters, they can't capture the dynamic nature of modern interactions. AI enables real-time, behavior-driven insights and hyper-personalization, offering adaptable, seamless, multi-device experiences. Designers must replace static models with flexible ones that adapt to real-time behavior and think beyond fixed screens to probabilistic possibilities.

For example, an AI-powered retail app can offer a customized experience for a shopper buying in bulk for a playschool, tailoring recommendations based on seasonal needs. Imagine the possibilities when AI creates unique experiences for millions of users.

5. Go Beyond Usability to Trust, Transparency, and Well-Being

AI products require more than usability; they demand trust, explainability, and empathy. Designers must unlearn their singular focus on ease of use and instead prioritize transparency, fairness, and ethical standards, particularly since AI reflects biases in its training data. Without this shift, we risk creating echo chambers or manipulative systems.

Too many products today feel transactional, driven by short-term business goals like clicks and conversions. With AI, designers can go deeper, creating experiences that prioritize emotional intelligence (EQ) and social intelligence (SQ). Like Wall-E, who formed emotional bonds, AI can foster genuine, meaningful connections with users. By embedding empathy and prioritizing societal impact, health, and well-being, we can design products that go beyond transactions and leave a lasting, positive impact.

Beyond Unlearning: Building the Future of AI-Driven Design

Unlearning is just the start. To thrive in the AI age, designers must evolve into experience curators, AI trainers, and advocates for user autonomy. Collaboration with data scientists and AI engineers is key to shaping the future with trust, adaptability, and well-being; while defining new ways of measuring success.

AI presents a unique opportunity to accelerate innovation, and in this AI-driven future, it’s not just about staying relevant—it’s about shaping the future responsibly. As Wall-E reminds us, adaptability and humanity must guide the technology we create. The possibilities ahead are limitless.

Thanks to Chandan Sharma and Kirti Goel for their invaluable feedback. A special and heartfelt thanks to Jaideep Godara for his exceptional insights and multiple rounds of invaluable feedback, which played a crucial role in shaping this article.

Originally published at https://nagardinesh.com.