Everyone is designing with AI, but not for AI
From productivity (How) to the essence of the product (What)
At present, most designers are using AI to streamline their work processes or to launch products faster (How). However, the author emphasizes that we should ask the question, "How is AI changing the form and interaction of the products we make (What)?" The point is made that keeping the existing fixed UI and simply adding AI features is nothing more than design for an old era.
Historical context and the evolution of design paradigms
It points out that the way designers think has changed at important moments in web history.
- Early 1990s web: It was designed based on fixed layouts, tables, and widths.
- 2010s mobile revolution: With the emergence of smartphones, the shift to Responsive Web Design proposed by Ethan Marcotte made the web standard to flexibly respond to screen sizes.
- 2026 AI era: Now, beyond responsive web, we have reached the era of "Malleable Design."
The concept of Malleable Design
The new possibilities provided by AI break the limits of a "fixed interface that looks the same to every user." In a malleable design environment, instead of providing a single version of an Alpha/Beta product, users can directly reconstruct and personalize dashboards, editors, and layouts within the product to suit their own work goals and preferences.
The pleasures of the past and the software of the future
The author recalls the individualized pleasure users felt in the MySpace days, when they personally decorated layouts, backgrounds, and soul food lists. Applying this to work software for modern logistics system managers or content marketers, the author suggests that it can provide a custom software environment that perfectly supports the work efficiency of a specific individual, rather than a one-size-fits-all screen for the general public.
In conclusion, the author advises that when reviewing future design work or product briefs, we should ask ourselves whether it is truly "designed with the fixed assumptions of an old era, or does it embody the flexibility of the AI era?"
