Designing AI Products: A How-to Guide

Table of Contents

1. Introduction
2. Why AI in Product Design?
3. Using Chat GPT for Design Concepts
4. Utilizing Mid-Journey for Prompt Creation
5. The Importance of Chaos Values
6. Additional Prompts for AI Assistance
7. Presenting Concepts to Clients
8. Defining the Style Direction with AI
9. Creating Mood Boards with AI
10. AI's Role in the Design Process
11. Conclusion

Article

Introduction

Hi everyone! It's Phil here, and today I want to talk to you about how to design products with AI. If you're a product designer, considering the use of AI can take your design work to the next level. While I don't believe that AI will replace product designers anytime soon, I do believe that designers who can effectively utilize AI to achieve better results will be more employable in the future.

Why AI in Product Design?

As a seasoned designer with over 20 years of experience, I have seen the potential of AI in revolutionizing the way we design products. However, there is currently limited information available on this topic. That's why I want to share my experiences to give you a head start in utilizing AI in your design process.

Using Chat GPT for Design Concepts

One of the ways I use AI in product design is by leveraging Chat GPT. I create prompts and use AI to generate various concepts that inspire me to combine different elements and incorporate additional features. This process not only saves me time but also produces a higher quality of sketch work than I could achieve on my own.

Utilizing Mid-Journey for Prompt Creation

Let's take the example of designing a new child night light. To kickstart the design process, I input prompts such as "child night light" and "new ideas for the child's night light" into Mid-Journey. The AI generates a range of concepts based on these prompts, providing me with direction and inspiration.

The Importance of Chaos Values

In my design process, I find that chaos values play a crucial role. These values range from 0 to 100, with 100 representing random and unique concepts, while 0 signifies more standard and conventional ideas. By experimenting with different chaos values, I can explore a broad spectrum of creative concepts and variations for the child's night light.

Additional Prompts for AI Assistance

In addition to the main prompts, I use specific prompts within Mid-Journey to enhance the design process. For example, I adjust the aspect ratio with the prompt "--AR-16;9" to ensure better presentation in different formats. I also find the prompt "multiple angles" useful for generating various concepts within the same render, allowing me to explore different styles such as using a blue pencil outline on white paper.

Presenting Concepts to Clients

Once I have a few promising concepts, I can share them directly with the client or further refine them in Photoshop or on a tablet. AI-generated sketches serve as a starting point, providing clients with an understanding that the design is still in progress and not the final product. While AI-generated concepts may not be production-ready, they significantly speed up the sketching process and infuse more inspiration and variety into the ideas I present.

Defining the Style Direction with AI

Working with clients to define the desired style for the product is crucial. Here, AI proves its value again. Using Mid-Journey, I can create style and mood boards by inputting prompts that align with the desired aesthetic. The remix tool within Mid-Journey allows me to fine-tune the outputs, ensuring the images reflect the exact style the client wants to pursue.

Creating Mood Boards with AI

Mood boards help in providing a clearer direction and concept clarification to clients. By incorporating AI in the process, I can quickly generate mood boards with the defined style direction. This eliminates the need for extensive manual sketching and ensures clarity before moving on to CAD and prototyping. With AI as an assistant, what might take days to accomplish manually can now be done within a morning.

AI's Role in the Design Process

Although AI's involvement diminishes in the later stages of the design process, there are still some valuable applications. Generative design tools and AI-assisted finite element analysis (FEA) can be helpful in certain scenarios. Additionally, AI aids in creating text descriptions for product drafts and generating copyright-free background images for client presentations.

Conclusion

In conclusion, AI has enabled me to speed up the initial phase of the design process while enhancing the presentation of ideas. While AI alone cannot design a perfect product that is cost-effective and user-friendly, it efficiently assists in bottoming out the design brief, ensuring alignment with the client's vision and preferred style. AI boosts creativity, saves time, and ultimately contributes to the overall success of product design.