It's incredible to see how far product design has come since I started my career in the early 2010s. Back then, people were just getting used to using Android and IOS apps, and Apple had just released their Human Interface Guidelines which really set the stage for best practices and patterns in digital product design. In this era, a lot of our design time was spent laying the foundation of what would be the best way to navigate an app and then figuring out how to bring value to the end user.

Fast forward to today, the design landscape has evolved dramatically. We’re now using generative AI in almost everything and integrating agents into the user’s experience..

Generative UI vs. Traditional UI Design

Back in 2017 I was working on a project for the number one spam call blocking app. A theme for many product teams was to personalize the user experience by offering insights and recommendations. It was about fitting users into a category rather than truly understanding them. While this was a step in the right direction, it wasn't true personalization.

Generative UI design changes this by creating individualized interfaces and experiences for each user that adapt in real time to their needs. The challenge here as a designer is accounting for various paths to ensure each one provides flexibility and value for the end user.

Balancing creative freedom with the constraints of generative algorithms is also crucial. It’s about finding the intersection between strategic design components and the predictive capabilities of AI.

This approach requires a shift in thinking but offers immense potential to create richer user experiences.

Tools and Technologies

At the forefront of these design advancements is Figma. Figma’s recent support for variables and tokens within design systems is a game-changer. These features, along with component properties and variant properties, empower designers to create more dynamic and flexible UI components. Tools like ChatGPT and Claude 3 are also great tools for researching and synthesizing user flows. Vercel's AI SDK 3.0 is also changing the way product designers think about serving up the best UI for the user at that moment. 

User Testing

A big thing that product designers should start doing if considering a generative UI approach is accounting for a second user in the product experience. While researchers might put fresh designs or a prototype in front of a user to conduct a study, the other user that needs to be recognized in the design process is the AI agent itself. The AI agent is actually the one guiding the primary user.

Future of Generative UI

The future of generative UI is inspiring. I’m particularly enthusiastic about the deeper integration of AI tools within design platforms like Figma, and leveraging LLMs to make UI selections for the user. As product teams become more comfortable with these tools, we’ll see a transformation in all digital products we use today.

My advice for designers new to generative UI is clear: play with it. Experiment with new tools and features, break things,and question existing patterns. This is the time to explore and innovate. But remember, your role is not solitary. Work closely with your engineering teams to understand the capabilities and limitations of generative design. By embracing this collaborative approach, you’ll be a key player in creating the next generation of user experiences.