Beyond Algorithms: Skills Of Designers That AI Can’t Replicate

This article highlights non-technical skills like curiosity, observation, empathy, advocacy, visual communication, and collaboration that designers routinely use in their process to make a difference through design. AI can be used to augment designers’ workflow instead of replacing people.At the start of the Coronavirus pandemic, I led the redesign of a tablet app used by sales representatives of the world’s largest food & beverage company. Never having been a sales representative, nor having ever played one on TV, I was curious about their typical workday. Adapting the first rule of design — Know Thy User — our lockdown approach was to conduct video interviews. As soon as company restrictions allowed, I met two sales representatives at a local Walmart. Masked and socially distant, I walked a mile in their shoes through the dairy, pet food, and freezer aisles. This single visit uncovered many insights that had not come up in the video interviews and online walkthroughs. I shared this with the team, spread across the world, and everyone could empathize with the sales representatives: juggling multiple devices and printouts, struggling to make technology work in extreme conditions like a low-lit walk-in freezer, and trying to work without hindering harried shoppers.