Alok Jain

The year has been very exciting for the UX community, a year of learning and unlearning. Here's a forum to share with and learn from the who's who of the HCI/UX community of practitioners, academicians and students across India and the world. The industry case studies track for the India HCI 2024 is now open for submissions! Achyutha Sharma

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More UX and Product leaders need to hear Diana DeMarco Brown (she/her)'s wisdom. Diana is a pioneer in the UX field who takes a thoughtful and nuanced approach to assessing the current state of the tech industry. In our recent conversation, Diana shared many insights, including: - How to evaluate a company's culture during the hiring process - Why private equity ownership can result in design divestment - How Product and UX leaders can effectively influence business decisions - Why we don't need to panic with the rise of AI, but we need to think critically and prioritize regulation during this early stage Link to our full conversation: https://lnkd.in/eemDimVb

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If you're in #UX or #ProductManagement this episode is a can't miss. Emily Campbell, curator of the Shape of #AI community joined us to discuss the future of UX. We discuss: - Current state of #AIproduct interfaces - Where AI product interfaces will go in the future - What new patterns will be essential to get the full potential - Changing role & possibilities of design with these super-capabilities - How #UXdesigners will need to adapt - Anti-patterns that could cloud AI UX - How understanding "conversational design" will be essential (shout-out to Erika Hall's book) - Thinking less about screens and more about services (or super-powers) Listen to the full episode on Apple, Spotify, Youtube (links in the comments). If you're a conference organizer, you need to book Emily (ahem Louis Rosenfeld). Such a great speaker with a thoughtful and balanced view on this sometimes uncertain future we're entering. Reminder: - Last week's episode with MUSIC x's Maarten W. exploring the future of music, is worth every second if you're interested in where music goes from here - Next week's episode will go deeper into the topic of Gen AI's copyright problem and we'll speak with Virginie Berger from MatchTune

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GPT-4o, the next-level large language model that's shaking things up in the design world. You meticulously craft your PRD (product requirements document), outlining every feature and function. Then, with a sprinkle of AI magic, GPT-4o transforms your text into initial Figma designs! Here's why GPT-4o is a game-changer: 👉 Boost your design speed: GPT-4o can generate wireframes and layouts based on your PRD, giving you a head start and freeing up valuable time for iteration and refinement. 👉 Break the communication barrier: Ever feel like your PRDs get lost in translation between you and your developer comrades? GPT-4o can bridge the gap by using your PRD to create designs that are not only visually appealing but also technically feasible. 👉 Spark endless creativity: Let's be honest, sometimes staring at a blank screen can stifle inspiration. GPT-4o can introduce unexpected design elements based on your PRD, sparking new ideas and pushing the boundaries of your initial concept. The future of design is collaborative, efficient, and driven by powerful AI tools like GPT-4o. What are your thoughts? Share your take in the comments! Credit: Eric Vyacheslav __ 👋 Join The AI Journal community! 🚀Subscribe to the newsletter: https://lnkd.in/ex9mu2hM 🎤 Get involved in the AI conversations on X: https://lnkd.in/ew6E-ZtP #GPT4o #designrevolution #AIpowereddesign #futureofdesign #Figmamagic

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#CoDesign according to the #NDIA #NDIS Doesn't look like #CoDesign. No mention of #UNCRPD in *OUR* (ie #NDIA's) #CoDesign principles. A little hint: the #UNCRPD is *THE* design determinant. #CoDesign *CAN'T* happen without explicit commitment to #UNCRPD. Explains why the #NDIS Bill breaches #HumanRights The #CoDesign Advisory Group - which "provides strategic advice to the NDIA on the implementation of co-design and engagement processes in the disability community" -  hasn't met in 9 months. As I explained in my recent article, #CoDesign has been weaponised. https://lnkd.in/d8VMKkvZ Take a look. #NothingAboutUsWithoutUs #RoboNDIS #ClassAction #RoyalCommission robondis.org Mark Toomey Tony Ridley, MSc CSyP FSyI SRMCP Karen Kline Samantha Connor Mark Sweeney Nick Avery Graham Taylor Tara Hannon Muriel Cummins Georgia van Toorn Dr George Taleporos (GAICD, PhD) Shirley Humphris Peter Gregory Jordon Steele-John #BillShorten David Pocock Vinod Ralh Paul Flintoft 👇 👇👇 https://lnkd.in/dKq7mdzZ

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Design Systems are not just for large corporates. That is, if you take a lean approach. The state of the Web is such that you can do without an over-complexified, all-encompassing set of framework-specific components that completely alienate you from the web's native capacities. Get re-acquainted with the Web. You'll be surprised how much faster and lighter your sites or PWAs can become. You'll be even more surprised about the speed your team can develop with all the intuitive building blocks and the freedom from unneeded abstractions. Here are my 5 priorities for a lean, purely standards-based Design System. #designsystem #puremanifesto #webstandards #webcomponents #webdevelopment #storybook

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// How Might the Historical, the Then and There, Proffer a Different, Here and Now? // "...design researcher Lacey Jacoby, who reimagined Google Translate to reveal linguistic cultural bias often hidden within the tool. “Welcome to a new translation experience” the app announces. A drop down menu offers three sample phrases for translation from English to Japanese. Selecting the phrase “What time is it?” prompts the system to display the Japanese translation 今何時ですか？ with a conjoining pop up box that asks “Are you a 7-year old girl asking your mother what time it is?” This question surfaces an assumption (or bias) built into Google Translate’s algorithm that makes decisions about the gender and seniority of the person speaking and the person spoken to. Rather than change the answer or algorithm that produced it, the designer made the hidden interpretation visible." "Our aim with this essay has been to examine the shift from algorithmic bias to algorithmic absence as a means of enriching ongoing analysis of data practices and addressing their systemic effects. Scholarly critiques of bias have exposed the imperative to solve systemic problems of algorithmic harm or exclusion by filling a gap. /This gap-filling presents a bolstering of big-data fantasies based on the capturing of more data (in volume, diversity, or otherwise)./ Across our investigations of absence, we see how the concept becomes: an indicator of power with which analysts can carefully work through what is not there; an activation of presence that allows analysts to wrestle with /what gets hidden, excluded, or left incomplete/ as a lively contributor to meaning making; and a capacious idea of the productive, which opens analysts to imaging the world differently. Together these dimensions of absence prompt us, as analysts, to consider the nature of the agreements and conditions we need to do our work with intention, accountability, and care. They draw attention to the social relationships around knowledge produced through and with algorithmic design." https://lnkd.in/g65aRzcu Daniela Rosner #AI #HCAI #AlgorithmicSystems #AutomatedDecisionMaking #Bias #DesignSpeculation #DIS2024

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With enough #compute, one could imagine a cloud-hosted UX research platforms like @UserTesting building specialized analytical models. But it's likely out of reach for most small UX research teams, and certainly for any #independent UXResearcher. https://lttr.ai/AR3uS #UXResearch #UXDesign #uxresearch #HundredThousandPounds #UXR #Freelance #LargeLanguageModel

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WSQ Advanced Design Thinking Highlights Reel 🎥 🎞️ 📽️ - Day 2 Define Phase - AM • Write the Design Brief • 5 Types of Questions • How to React to Your Boss • Propose a DT Action Plan • Power of CJ Mapping and Fieldwork • Standup Huddles Ideate Phase - PM • Brainwriting • Creative Exercises • Affinity Map • Prioritization Map • Idea Evaluation "This course adopts a pragmatic approach by introducing and combining relevant bite-size frameworks and participants are required to build a test case problem and to solve it collectively." "The lessons introduce key methods and approach on how to engage customers and end users to understand their requirements and the steps until a solution is arrived." "I recommend this course to any individuals, especially experienced middle level managers."

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In Part 2 of her series on The Role of Personality in UX, Dr. Maria Panagiotidi explores how we might tailor interfaces to fit different personality traits like Openenss or Conscientiousness: https://lnkd.in/e4nM4Gyp Curious how you score on these personality traits? Find out for yourself: https://lnkd.in/ektCc8dn

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The skills required for any profession gradually shift over time. Thinking about the future of UX research, what skills will you need? Will emerging technologies (AR/VR) and devices like the VIsion Pro introduce new methods for testing and analyses? As AI shakes out to the plateau of productivity how will it be integrated into research practices? The list of questions goes on... What are your thoughts? • What skills do you think will be most valuable for UX researchers in the future? • Are there any specific areas of expertise you see becoming more in demand? • How can UX researchers stay ahead of the curve in this ever-changing landscape? #UXResearch #FutureofUX #DigitalStrategy

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Figma joins the race to train AI models with the design assets created by their customers. There is at least a way to opt out. But, is this now going too far where you have to opt-out from platforms to take your data? Does this eventually lead to diminished intellectual property values? Why does these apply and affect only the customers and why don't these platform companies open source their tools so others can train on their IP? #AI #GenAI #Copyright #Figma #IP #uidesign

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My opinion on how AI will impact designers comes down to this famous quote: "Computers are useless: they can only give you answers." - Pablo Picasso By this I mean that what's missing rom the AI/design discussion is the divide between "design as production" and "design as planning." Design as production is making screens and prototypes, executing on plans someone else made. Computers have always been great at production, repeating tasks perfectly over and over again, often better than people can. Back when newspapers were popular, craftspeople, called typesetters, laid out type by hand: it was a well paid, full time job. Picasso’s famous quote is telling us designers the way forward is to get better at asking questions. To see design more as a planning role than a making role. To figure out what computers still can’t do, or can never do, and fill that gap. If AI makes building trivial, the challenge shifts for the industry to be who is the best at deciding what to make. That problem may become harder, because the need for it is clearer than ever. The teams of those people might need to grow, while teams for making need to shrink. Read the rest of my take on AI on my substack for the book Why Design Is Hard. https://lnkd.in/eQ9QeGgm

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**DECISION DESIGN – Setting the Opportunity Space (#GG 2)** I’ve mapped decision design’s opportunity space based on the two main design parameters to enable broader discussions on the topic. This exercise is a starting point to nuance arguments around what decision design can become. Design Parameter I – FUTURES EXPOSURE: The image below shows the x-axis representing a decision-maker's possible exposure to a certain future, ranging from dystopian to utopian. The decision-maker can be an individual, a group, an organization, or any system with agency. While the spectrum of possible futures is infinite, the focus here is on plausible futures. The two normal distributions (bell curves) represent two settings: GREY: The probability of exposure in today's setting without any decision and intervention by the decision-maker, likely skewed towards dystopia by current systemic trajectories. WHITE: A setting where the designed decision flattens the curve towards a more positive futures exposure for the decision-maker (note: not necessarily for the world at large). Design Parameter II – FUTURES DESIRABILITY: The y-axis reflects the decision-maker’s attitude towards a certain future. Desirability ranges from low (dystopian) to high (utopian). Human perception is mapped with two logistic growth curves (S-curves) derived from the science of risk perception and Prospect Theory (Slovic, 1987; Kahneman & Tversky, 1979): DOTTED LINE: Without any intervention, the probability of a more dystopian future is high, and desirability at the distribution’s mean is considerably low. SOLID LINE: With decision design applied, desirability of basically any possible future can be significantly increased by, for example, shaping robust core narratives, resilient identity design, and transformational hero journey framings. THE ROLE OF DECISION DESIGN: Discover, define, develop, and deliver decision setups, guidelines, and hacks to actively shape and co-create the decision-maker’s futures exposure and futures desirability. For most decisions a reasonable probability-desirability equilibrium is the sweet spot of decision-becoming. However, design towards a more utopian individual future is possible too. At Gravity & Grandeur, the world’s first decision design studio, we aim to amplify our client’s opportunity space by systematically steer exposure towards antifragility and by elevating desirability into full-spectrum futures resonance. We are the pioneers of multi-parametric decision design. Our mission: BECOME YOUR BEST DECISION --- How to become your best decision: Check out the Gravity & Grandeur website and book a free GG Check for your next important decision (link in comments). Also, don't forget to follow us on LinkedIn for more insights on decision design and decision-becoming.

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I’m noticing a peculiar design related anti-pattern of sorts in the post ZIRP economic environment. It’s where companies have the budget to staff design talent, albeit in lower numbers, but the development budget is so limited that teams are unable to implement the work designers produce. This is the third economic downturn I’ve experienced and we always get pendulum swings. In this one, there seems to be a bias toward austerity and implementing the least expensive solution.

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Designing Behavior Change with AI: How Anticipation Can Transform User Experiences #UX #AI #productDesign

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Some strong arguments in this article by Rune Madsen about why the field of product design has "lost its way" in his words: "Design workflows at most tech companies follow an incredible number of structured tasks... These concepts originated in the service design industry and initially helped facilitate a very human-focused design process – which, of course, is good. "However, driven by a desire from businesses to turn design into a process-heavy, measurable function, we’re filling our time with checklists instead of focusing on the very thing that makes designers relevant: our ability to propose new points of view and delight users with meaningful experiences. These core competences that were inherited from graphic design have been replaced with a poor man’s version of an anthropology major where the act of design is mostly based on averaging user opinions. "Design is both an objective and subjective art. But because of a persistent fear of making bad decisions, businesses have ended up leaning so heavily on objective measures that we have severely limited our ability to create meaningful impact within organizations." While Rune's article isn't focused on solutions, his articulation of the problem left me nodding my head in agreement. If there is a constant in the field of product design, it is this: We will spend our entire careers reminding, educating, and evangelizing why design exists. Which, in truth, is "our ability to propose new points of view and delight users with meaningful experiences." Well said, Rune. #productdesign #thewhy

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Figma integrates AI into its software, and then... they back it off. Why? Andy Allen from !Boring Software (Not Boring Software) quickly spotted that the AI feature in Figma generated a weather app that looks (too much) like an Apple Weather App (which is far from being perfect anyway). It started a hectic discussion on the Internet about whether it was inspiration or plagiarism... Where are the limits? And what does Figma's reaction (backing off this feature) tell us? —— Will AI take over design jobs? Well, it depends... UI? Definitely yes, pretty soon. UX? Maybe sometime in the future. Strategic design? I personally doubt it. What's your take on that?

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