It's time to blink slower
Design strategy has evolved from useful and usable to the maximization of time through the reduction of friction. As AI accelerates, we must rethink the design of our frictionless approach to organizational change. Leaders must design space for curiosity and acceptance as a prerequisite for change.
The world seems to be accelerating faster.
Many leaders are wondering about how the AI-ifying of everything will impact their world, their businesses, their employees and their own careers. Just when we finish a major transformation initiative, the world seems to require that we do it again.
And again. And again.
The AI-human world feels like another change-to-survive-moment.
The state of design
In attempt after attempt to change, we continue to protect a deeply held belief in how and what we design. It's a belief that has created trillions of dollars in value for those who employ it. It's as much about what we are "designing out" as it is what we are truly designing. As a designer, I've felt the undercurrent of this belief in every company.
Design must reduce friction.
It was a quest that began in the early days of human-centered design. Our design systems and approaches have taken this mantra and made it calcified in every user interaction. Usable and useful were the rallying cry. The labels for this have included human factors, UCD (user-centered design), design thinking, user experience, customer experience, and service design, to name a few. Since the emergence of Stanford's design program in 1958, the seeds of usable and useful have grown into an emotionally intelligent design practice. Today, we use our design super powers to evoke feelings within our users to move them from point A to point B as quickly as possible.
Let's be honest. It was a smart design strategy. We designed for the scarcest resource we believe we have: time. And we amplified that scarcity through an endless technology war chest of distractions. We added "human relationships" in the valleys of friction to support useful steps that technology couldn't yet fill usably.
What is the current design end game?
We're now in a position where the hockey stick curve of technology disruption has the potential to create a future of near-frictionless operation. Sans humans. The future tradeoff is simple. We will receive more artificial experiences in exchange for our precious time back.
Our systems are constructed with scarcity in mind, attempting to maximize every nanosecond of our day. From AI code in our systems to how AI advises us on our most complex choices.
Are we really closer to achieving our design vision we set so long ago?
