9 real-world use cases of AI in product design

🌈 Abstract

The article discusses practical applications of AI in the day-to-day product design process, covering the following use cases:

1. Summarizing and sorting information
2. Understanding product requirements documents (PRDs)
3. Brainstorming ideas
4. Generating templates
5. Creating user flows
6. Generating decision trees
7. Generating and rewriting copy
8. Creating wireframes
9. Optimizing workflows

🙋 Q&A

[01] Summarizing and Sorting Information

1. What are the key capabilities of AI in summarizing and sorting information?

• For summarizing, the AI in FigJam can generate a summary with structured bullet points in seconds, though the summary is a static image that cannot be edited.
• For sorting, the AI in FigJam can group similar sticky notes based on themes in seconds, though the sorting may need to be revised after generation.

2. How do these AI capabilities help product designers? Summarizing and sorting are common tasks that require extra brainpower, so the AI capabilities can save product designers time and effort on these repetitive tasks.

[02] Understanding PRDs

1. How can AI help product designers comprehend PRDs? AI can help designers identify gaps and understand the key information in a long product requirements document (PRD), so designers don't have to struggle to figure out where to start.

2. What is an example prompt that a product designer could use to leverage AI for understanding a PRD? The article provides an example prompt: "Act as a product designer at a xxx company, and here's the product requirement document from the product manager. What are your top takeaways? What clarifying questions can you ask the product manager?"

[03] Brainstorming Ideas

1. How can AI be used to spark ideas in the design process? The article mentions that if the designer's mind is blank, they can ask ChatGPT for help to come up with creative ideas. The article provides an example prompt: "Act as a product designer. Here are the top business goals you want to achieve and the top user problems you want to solve. Can you come up with 20 creative ideas that solve those problems?"

2. What other AI tools besides ChatGPT can be used for ideation? The article also discusses an AI widget called Jambot that can be used for ideation.

[04] Generating Templates

1. How can AI help with generating templates? The AI features in FigJam allow designers to create a wide range of templates, such as mind maps, team retros, and brainstorming sessions, based on their specific needs. Designers can also choose to add specific items to every template, though there are limitations on the types of items that can be added.

2. What are the benefits of using AI to generate templates? Creating a template from a blank canvas can be challenging, but AI can generate templates based on the designer's specific needs, saving them time and effort.

[05] Creating User Flows

1. How can AI assist in creating user flows? The article suggests using frameworks to give the AI enough context and specify the designer's needs when creating user flows. A generic request can only yield generic examples, so providing more specific details in the prompt is important.

2. What is an example prompt a designer could use to leverage AI for creating a user flow? The article provides an example prompt: "I am designing a [what kind of product] for [what kind of people with what unmet user needs]. Can you help me create a detailed user flow for [what specific flow]?"

[06] Generating Decision Trees

1. How can AI help with generating decision trees? The article explains that when working on AI chat concepts, the designer often had a clear understanding of the beginning and end, but needed AI (such as ChatGPT) to help figure out the complex logic and decision tree in between.

2. What are the benefits of using AI to generate decision trees? Generating decision trees can be too complex for the designer to sort out by themselves, so AI can be helpful in mapping out the logic and flow.

[07] Generating and Rewriting Copy

1. How can AI assist with generating and rewriting copy? There are plugins in Figma that allow designers to select text, provide context, and ask the AI to create or rewrite the copy for them, saving time and effort compared to doing it manually or switching between tools.

2. What are some examples of how designers can leverage AI for copy generation and rewriting? When designing a landing page, designers no longer need to create the copy completely by themselves or switch between Figma and ChatGPT to refine the copy.

[08] Creating Wireframes

1. What are some AI tools that can generate wireframes? The article mentions several tools that can generate wireframes, including Uizard, Musho, Relume, Wireframe Designer, and WireGen.

2. What are the limitations of the current AI wireframe generation tools? The author notes that while these tools are helpful, they are not powerful enough for their day-to-day tasks as a designer, and the author hopes to create a better AI plugin for wireframe generation in the future.

[09] Optimizing Workflows

1. How can AI be used to optimize repetitive workflows? The article provides an example of a design manager who regularly has to write weekly team updates. By creating a custom GPT model with a template, the manager can simply feed in a list of bullet points, and the GPT will generate a nicely formatted message, automating the repetitive task.

2. What are the benefits of using AI to optimize workflows? Automating repetitive tasks with AI can save designers time and effort, allowing them to focus on more high-value work.