What Gets Easier?

1. UI Prototyping & Mockups — Tools like Figma AI, Galileo AI, and Uizard generate UI screens from simple prompts, reducing the need for manual wireframing.

2. Code Generation — AI-powered tools (Cursor AI, Locofy, Anima) turn Figma designs into React/Vue code, allowing faster iteration without needing front-end devs early on.

3. UX Writing & Microcopy — AI can generate contextual copy for buttons, error messages, and tooltips, avoiding blank-state paralysis.

4. User Research Analysis — AI can summarize customer feedback, cluster qualitative data, and suggest actionable insights. No more sifting through endless user interviews manually.

5. Competitive Analysis & Benchmarking — AI scrapes and summarizes competitors’ design patterns, reducing the effort in market research.

6. Usability Testing — AI tools like Maze and UserTesting AI simulate user flows and highlight potential usability bottlenecks faster than manual testing.

7. Localization & Accessibility — AI can automate translations, text adjustments, and accessibility compliance, which were traditionally time-consuming.

What Gets Harder?

1. Standing Out — AI accelerates design, meaning more products start looking similar as founders rely on AI-generated UI. Generic design is now a bigger risk.

2. Originality & Brand Differentiation — AI struggles with intentional visual branding choices. Unique aesthetics require human intervention.

3. Strategic UX Thinking — AI can’t understand deep user psychology or long-term product vision. Founders still need to define what should be built, not just generate screens.

4. Avoiding False Confidence — Founders may trust AI-generated design decisions too much without validating them with real users. AI assists but doesn’t replace user feedback.

5. Over-Reliance on Automations — AI tools suggest what has worked before, reinforcing existing patterns instead of pushing for innovative interactions.

6. Data Quality & Bias — AI-generated user research insights depend on the input data. If your dataset is biased, the AI will mislead you.

7. Complex Interaction Design — AI is great for static screens but struggles with designing complex workflows, state management, and multi-step user journeys.

Bottom Line

AI makes the execution of design faster and cheaper, but differentiation, strategy, and UX thinking become even more valuable.

Founders who rely solely on AI risk blending in, while those who use AI intelligently will have an edge.

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