Gen A talk in Zurich ✨

We’re going to have an exciting evening together. Hi, I’m Patricia, a UX and innovation designer, and tonight I’m giving a talk at the 50:50 meetup in Zurich about „Generative AI and Design: Designing in the Age of AI.”

I’m relatively new to Zurich, having lived here for just six months, and I’m eager to get to know the design community here better. That’s why this talk is a perfect fit.

Once I arrive at the event, I’ll do a quick tech setup, and then we’ll dive right in. Here are three key learnings I’ll share from my work:

1️⃣Mindset Shift: Black-and-white thinking gets us nowhere. Instead of seeing ourselves as victims of our time, we should approach these topics with curiosity and critical thinking.

2️⃣Understanding AI’s Capabilities: AI is often massively overestimated. It’s crucial to understand what AI can and cannot do.

3️⃣Workflow Iteration: Don’t expect tools or AI to take over complete workflows. Instead, focus on how you can integrate AI into specific parts of your workflow or for particular tasks.

For those who couldn’t attend but still want a taste of the talk, I’ve prepared a free mini AI training session. It’s perfect for designers who are just starting out. You can just comment „AI mini training“ and I send you the link in a private message. Enjoy watching! ❤️

🗣️ Rant Alert: The Dark Side of Nudging on Instagram
I have to be honest; I’m really frustrated. As a UX designer and strategist, I understand the importance of user engagement. But Instagram’s recent nudging tactics to get users to turn on push notifications have crossed a line for me. 🤯

📵 For over 5 years, I’ve deliberately kept my notifications off because they are just too distracting. But for the past 3 weeks, a persistent banner has appeared on my profile, urging me to „Turn on push notifications.“ You can dismiss it, but it reappears every time you access the notifications area. This sticky banner remains in place even when you scroll.

🔍 The goal is clear: Instagram wants users to enable push notifications so they are alerted to every update and spend more time on the app. Every second users spend on the app translates to revenue for Instagram (Meta) due to ad income.

🎯 Strategy: Nudging
From a business standpoint, I get it. But Nudging users towards a decision that is obviously detrimental to them is unethical. Excessive time on social media, including Instagram and LinkedIn, has been proven to be unhealthy, contributing to mental health issues like burnout and depression.

🧠 Behavioral Insights
Recently, I saw a post on LinkedIn from Ioana @uxgoodies about their new „catch up“ feature, where users are shown news from their entire network by default. The rationale is the same: more notifications mean more app opens, driven by curiosity about what exciting update might await. It could be a mundane work anniversary or an intriguing job offer or message from a potential client.

What are your thoughts?

Join me while I am giving a workshop about Gen AI x Design in the US 👩🏼‍💻✨

Behind the scenes:

✈️ Travel Prep:
〰️ Packing my suitcase (someone wants to come along, but not this time!)
〰️ Heading to the airport for a long flight to the USA
〰️ Using flight time productively to go over workshop slides

🧳 Arrival and Setup:
〰️ Fast forward to the next morning, getting ready for the workshop
〰️ Arriving at a cool location that reminds me of Harry Potter
〰️ Preparing 1.5 hours early with AI integration framework worksheets

👩‍🏫 Workshop Highlights:
〰️ Combining educational input on tools, methods, and strategies with hands-on activities
〰️ Engaged and motivated participants creating fantastic results
〰️ Each group presenting their outcomes and receiving feedback

Learning and leveraging AI is so important for us as designers. It opens up new realms of possibilities, enhancing our creativity and efficiency. However, it’s equally important to understand its limitations to use it effectively and responsibly. This workshop was a fantastic opportunity to dive deep into these aspects, and I had so much fun sharing and learning with everyone!

It was an incredible experience, and I had so much fun!🥳

Wohooo Exciting news from Config! 🚀

Figma just rolled out a cool new feature where you can generate UI layouts and component options just by describing what you need. How awesome is that? 🙌

Over time, it’ll even use design systems like Google’s Material 3 kit, and eventually, you’ll be able to generate on-brand UI using your own design system assets. Perfect for kickstarting projects and keeping things consistent across the board.

WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS?

Don’t miss out – sign up for beta testing now! 🎉 #Figma #Config2024 #DesignMagic #AIDesign