Design in the AI Era | How to Future-Proof Your Career Now

[Music] Good evening everyone. Thank you for joining us today here in this very exciting session that I'm very excited

about. Um I am Shubhangi and I lead the

about. Um I am Shubhangi and I lead the branding and communication efforts here at AN. Before we dive right into the

at AN. Before we dive right into the conversation with Gotham, I would like to take a little bit of time to talk a little bit about who is it that uh and

is what we are, what do we do, why do we do it. Um so and academy is the

do it. Um so and academy is the brainchild of Dr. Jan Chandha who's also the founder and CEO of Indian Institute of Art and Design. So I a has been

around for more than a decade now. I

want to say 12 plus years and and actually comes from that pedigree of having disseminated design education for

more than a decade. Um then when covid hit there was a need um for disseminating or delivering design education online. So this sort of model

education online. So this sort of model was developed then and tested with IAD students and perfected and um then it was rolled out to the larger group uh

with and academy. Uh but the difference between IAD and and is that in IAD you'll find your uh degree courses so your design programs and for your grad

programs. Um but here at an we offer professional short courses in the domains of graphic design, interior design and UIUX design. Most of our courses are part-time. We have one

full-time course in graphic design. Um

and uh other than that all of the courses are part-time. Um these courses are designed for people who are working professionals or have some you know

prior commitments during the day. So

they cannot uh enroll in a full-time course or they cannot give that much time during the week to uh uh learning dedicatedly. So these courses are still

dedicatedly. So these courses are still like shorter but like their outcome or their quality of learning is not compromised on. So you really get like

compromised on. So you really get like top class learning uh from the comfort of wherever you're based and in a short duration. Um

duration. Um I've already spoken about the uh pedigree that is IAD where which is where we come from. Uh we also teach all

of these courses online. So we teach you with the convenience of uh online with the effectiveness of offline. What does

that mean? Um it means that we we sort of simulate that environment that you'll find in a design classroom in a design studio in an offline college. So

everything that you get there, your crits, your juries, your group discussions, your feedback, your peer learning, um you get all of that here at

an just in an online environment and we rely heavily on tech and human support to sort of uh emulate that environment for you. Um all of our curriculum is

for you. Um all of our curriculum is also designed by people that are uh practitioners and also academicians. So

the likes of Gotham who are part of the industry actively working contributing and taking the industry forward. So you

get very relevant upto-date uh knowledge on what is happening in the design industry, what what is working, what is not working, what is it uh a recruiter

is looking for, what is it um a client is looking for etc etc. Uh so you get very up todate uh knowledge about design. I've also spoken about the live

design. I've also spoken about the live interactiveness of our classes. Uh not

only are these uh courses designed by people that are working in the industry but also delivered by uh same people. So

you get to uh work with or like learn with people that are very much part of the industry. We also focus a lot on

the industry. We also focus a lot on design processes and principles. Um so

you do get to learn your software which is your Photoshop or your Figma or your AutoCAD home, SketchUp etc. Um but what is it that you do with that software?

How do you design? What do you uh how do you break down a a design problem, a design brief, uh how to think like a designer? These are the things that we

designer? These are the things that we actually focus on and workflows etc. Um in our curriculum you will find a lot of projects. So there is a module and then

projects. So there is a module and then there's a project. So you learn something and then you apply it in your project. And these projects also borrow

project. And these projects also borrow uh from challenges that you will face when you actually hit the ground running. So design briefs that are

running. So design briefs that are prevalent in the industry or um asks from clients these uh projects almost mimic those challenges and then once you

work on these projects which are like multiple projects throughout the curriculum you sort of uh culminate this portfolio of projects so you have something to show for the duration of

the course. So when you graduate you can

the course. So when you graduate you can automatically apply start applying with that portfolio that you graduate with.

So you have something to show for. Um

and also we have a lot of faith in the quality of design education we provide that we offer job guarantee on select courses and also career support on almost all of our courses. What does

that mean? Is um you work with a dedicated career services team to build your resume, to build your soft skills, to learn how to crack mock interviews,

how to crack uh design tests, time tests, um all of those things. You do

aptitude tests, uh which which stream of design does uh fit better for you, etc. So you do all of those things um while you're enrolled in the course with a

dedicated career services team. That is

all about and we've been around for 3 years and we have now a community of 1400 plus learners, 50 plus mentor body uh and we're rated 4.6 on Google. So if

any of you are wanting to enroll with us, please check us out. Um with that I will move on to the agenda for today. Um

so this masterclass series which is called kaleidoscope was conceptualized as um a series where we invite design maestros and experts to s to sort of uh

share their perspective on design and what is it that they think is happening in the design industry what is going on etc. We sort of pick their brain about

design. Today we have uh with us Mr.

design. Today we have uh with us Mr. Goautam who's a founder and principal designer at MPL which is a agency design agency working at the intersection of

branding UIUX and uh strategy. Gotham is

a designer at heart and entrepreneur by choice. He's the founder of Mable, a

choice. He's the founder of Mable, a digital powerhouse of UIUX design, branding and consulting with over 17 years of experience. He has shaped

digital growth across industries from banking and e-commerce to health care and energy. Always focusing on

and energy. Always focusing on exceptional user experiences. Beyond his

work, Gotham mentors young designers and actively fosters India's design culture and adventurer at heart. His exploration

of diverse cultures enrich his creative perspective. Please join me in welcoming

perspective. Please join me in welcoming Gotham De.

Thank you so much. Uh I was not expecting uh such an introduction but it's cool. Yeah, I'm I'm very much

it's cool. Yeah, I'm I'm very much excited and uh when I got a call from you regarding this uh uh opportunity and uh you know when I whenever I get a chance to interact with new generation

students uh it's it's always very very you know uh overwhelming for me because uh uh the kind of journey I have seen till now and the way the world is moving

it's pretty pretty un unpredictable challenging and stuff. So it's good because because whenever I interact with new kids uh who are going to be designer

in like uh next couple of years I learn a lot of things from them. So yeah

wonderful to have you Gotham. Uh so

without further ado we'll like dive right into the conversation and start at the very beginning which is a wonderful place to start. uh how did you sort of

uh you know start your design journey and how did your career path evolve with technology and AI?

I started my career way back in 2008.

Okay. So uh I did my engineering in computer science and I landed my first job with Oracle Mumbai. So I was working with Oracle for like four years and I

was I was a developer over there, Java developer, hardcore you know programming and that point of time uh it was uh so I

was into into fintech. So, HDFC Bank was my uh first client and then that gave me a lot of perspective and uh you know uh understanding of how the product world

works because uh they were using uh Oracle products and uh I was uh uh at the vendor side uh and my job was to understand the pain points of uh the

users and stuff. that point of time design was not primarily used for uh the process because uh it was it was pretty simple. You get to know about the

simple. You get to know about the problem and then start coding. Okay. So

I I tried to kind of inculcate design in many ways there and uh and also try to help the pre uh sales team to kind of pitch to the new client in a very new

way and stuff. So that was like a changing uh you know uh that I thought of you know changing my career towards design and then I decided to do my

masters. So post four years of uh stint

masters. So post four years of uh stint at Oracle I did my masters in automotive designing. I was very passionate about

designing. I was very passionate about automotive and stuff. But post my masters what I realized is uh I already have uh vast experience in uh the

software field. Then I thought of why

software field. Then I thought of why not you know uh take that advantage and move ahead and then I got a chance to join L&T technology services. So uh from

product to service the journey was like completely different. So I learned a lot

completely different. So I learned a lot of things over there and that uh led me to kind of give the confidence to start MFAB back in 2016. So both that uh the

journey is being uh very uh interesting because I always push uh design first approach and we work with uh uh technology companies and regarding the

technology adoption the the scenarios haven't changed a lot you know uh if I say that we used to design screens in Photoshop back in those days and we adopted Figma

very early actually 2015 we adopted Figma and then Uh we kind of uh uh Yeah.

Can you hear me?

I can hear you.

Yeah. So we kind of uh uh uh hard we had a very difficult challenge to convince our clients that we can use a cloud-based tool because that point of time people were not very open about it

uh data security and stuff like but uh it was very interesting because uh the collaboration start uh started to happen

post uh Figma. So a lot of things uh changed afterwards and postcoid we see a lot of AI things as happening and then we have also changed our design process

and uh fundamentally uh the way we approach to a problem has been changed a lot correct and when did you realize that AI is becoming especially in the last 3

years I think AI has been like all over everybody's using AI to just like even write like a small WhatsApp message for that matter but uh when did this realization

hit you that you know what AI has now entered workflows and it is going to hugely impact design for the coming years.

Honestly uh I had this feeling since 20189 when uh you know that there was there were many companies they were trying out different LLM models where they could

able to generate different kind of layouts different kind of designs and u you know maybe auto automating different user flows and stuff. I had that feeling

that AI is not going to be uh just an helper probably it will it will become a co-creator for designers. So I had that

feeling and then uh postco things changed really uh rapidly because uh be before that uh we used to use a lot of

uh AI products not necessarily the way you see AI right now but I had that feeling since uh 2018 2019 right and how would you say that the

role of a designer has changed with like AI coming into the picture?

Oh, absolutely. This is a very interesting question because I always tell this to my teammates uh at MFAB that you need to also be very careful about how things are changing and how

you can uh you know add up those things in your career. So designers are mostly moving from makers to strategist I can say correct

because uh AI can generate ideas and designers can maybe decide uh on how to use those ideas because uh the the critical role of designers is very very

important these days right now because you can actually uh change a product perspective and you you can actually impact on the business aspects very much and that is very very

important. You cannot tell that uh

important. You cannot tell that uh designers are like you just sit around and then create some graphics or maybe some screens or UI. No, you have to look at the impact of the entire thing how

the business is moving all those business metrics so that you can map your value to the output you are giving.

So that is very important.

Correct. And so we have established that that AI is becoming a co-creator and the role of a designer is becoming more that of a strategist and a thinker. What

skills do you think that uh say designers coming out as graduates or like starting their own careers in the next 5 10 years? What skills should they

be chasing?

So I can say don't run behind different kind of tools. uh understand how to use those tools is fine because if I give you a recent example then XD was kind of competing with Figma few years ago and

now XD doesn't even exist. Okay. So you

never know whether Figma Figma or any sort of tools will be there in the future or not. So fundamental things you need to focus on. For example, problem framing, critical thinking, it is it is

very very important and you need to understand different kind of industries and how you can apply those knowledge in that particular industry. Uh I would also like to uh give some emphasis on

data uh literacy. For example, you need to understand some you know insights.

You can create some uh uh you know data patterns uh through some data. Then

storytelling and communication is also very very important. It's it's not about just you know coming up with ideas. It's

it's very important to communicate the story behind that idea is also very important. And lastly maybe uh you

important. And lastly maybe uh you should have a ethical design mindset that is also very very important because you know we are moving towards a very datacentric world and how ethically we

can use those uh data and create a sense out of those data is very very uh you know critical.

Yeah. very very much true. I think uh I've I've also studied design in a very different silo which is architecture and uh something that that I have seen

evolve and happen in my sort of field is that every time that and architecture is a very old field. So every time a new thing comes around we have to go back to the basics like the the square and the

triangle and the circle what Plato said you have to go back to the basics. your

fundamentals and your thinking ability become supremely important. Correct. And

as well as the ethics uh what you shared. So um moving from this

shared. So um moving from this conversation, do you uh have any AI tools that you all have sort of incorporated in your workflow uh or or

you think are are really important to like now incorporate in people's workflows?

Yeah, absolutely. It's a very important questions. uh in the previous question I

questions. uh in the previous question I answered that you should not be very tool dependent but in this case I would like to tell you that there are few workflows which is very mechanical and

we have kind of introduced AI uh intervention in our overall uh business function or maybe design process to minimize those uh uh human efforts over there

not like replacing the brains for example uh previously we used to do a lot of ideation through sketches and all and these days we use a lot of AI tools

to do a lot of ideations so that that is faster, better and then it'll totally give you the opportunity to kind of uh quickly crack some design. Uh apart from

that uh we use some uh interesting Figma plugins uh which makes our life little easier. For example, let's say uh there

easier. For example, let's say uh there are few tools which helps us to make quick uh wireframes and there are few tools which uh help us to create copy uh

for the websites or maybe applications or apps we are using because uh we are not using uh placeholders anymore because AI is helping us to give that

context so that the prototypes looks really really close and real. So image

generation also we are using a lot and uh apart from that in our business function uh for example taking uh AI

meeting notes and uh that is kind of helping us and within team communication is also becoming very very uh interesting because of AI we

have almost eliminated the usage of emails now mostly we cl uh so uh for client communication we are using emails but for internal communication we are just happy with you know products like

Slack and the stuffs where you know decision-m is kind of faster and better right and what do you think about uh using AI because you're also sort of

operating in the UIUX realm so using AI for research for uh interviews etc data collection yes AI has given us a lot of power for

because here what is happening is the desk research is way more powerful uh Now because of AI because a lot of things uh which we cannot do let's say

for example I'm sitting in Pune and suppose I want to do some research let's say for example ethnographic research uh for uh a country like uh Australia or

Thailand I can get really good insights uh using AI of that particular uh region particular context their culture and behavior otherwise it was very difficult

because uh you need to go through a lot of reports a lot of uh uh data and then you have to kind of create some sense out of those things. AI is helping us

with that and apart from that uh uh the research finding is also becoming very very uh easier now. So suppose you want to represent those things. Let's say I I

suppose collect one report of like thousand different columns of data. I

can tell AI to kind of create some uh infographics and tell me that uh what this document is talking about so that I can save a lot of time over there. If I

find it very interesting, I'll go deeper. Probably I'll not use use AI and

deeper. Probably I'll not use use AI and I can Yeah. For more preliminary research and

Yeah. For more preliminary research and findings. Yeah. Correct. Correct. Yeah.

findings. Yeah. Correct. Correct. Yeah.

And and so this is a question that every time every time we talk about AI and this is like almost fear-mongering that has happened uh in the design industry

which is will AI take my job. So what do you think in the context of the future?

What sort of designers are safe? Uh they

will not lose their job but what sort of designers are a little you know on a slippery slope that they will have to maybe move on to other roles or like figure out new skills.

I'll be brutally honest here. Okay. So

the answer is yes and no both. So the

people who are going to survive this are the people who really understand the human behaviors because AI is still not

yet uh capable of that. So the roles like user UX research maybe service designers, CX strategist, it will be

there for sure. And in order to move to those roles, you need to be very very particular about uh you know uh you know how you interact with users and you know

you need to understand human judgment compared to visuals or maybe how you represent data and stuff like that. It is going to be

difficult for people who can be easily replaced by tools. For example, uh you are not very good at ideation. you are

not able to come up with designs and ideas. Okay. So maybe I can just use

ideas. Okay. So maybe I can just use some AI tools to generate ideas and then use my brain to kind of refine that.

If you are not able to do that articulate those uh uh ideas uh further then it is kind of become becomes a challenge.

Yeah.

Yeah. And what about what about people who are very heavily relying actually you have already spoken about this but uh heavily reliant on software skills.

So will they also see the effect of this?

No. Yes. uh this answer is also yes and no because if you know uh how to adapt to new softwares then probably it will not be very difficult but if you are sticking to a particular thing because I

have seen people who are like very pro at uh uh Photoshop and then they are UIUX designers and they are not adopting Figma for example right now

right they are facing a lot of challenges you need to be very adaptable towards uh using uh what kind of software you want So first thing I would reiterate

fundamentals should be very clear.

So fundamentally you should be very uh uh capable and then use these tools as your friends don't need to compete with them.

Yeah. Yeah. And uh Goautam since you're also uh engaging a lot with young designers and also teaching how do you

see that the traditional uh landscape of design education evolved with AI?

Yeah. So this is uh very very important.

In fact, whenever I get a chance to advise to like like uh uh you know faculties or maybe college management, I always try to advise them that you need

to always think ahead of time. Okay. So

for example, the people who have joined their graduation this year. So four

years later they're going to pass out and four years later the landscape will be totally different. So we cannot teach them something which is like 10 years ago stuff right. So we need to be very

very careful about uh what is there in the future. We should have a very clear

the future. We should have a very clear understanding of how the trends are moving and then equip the students with those kind of uh things and the students

should also be very very uh uh careful about uh how the things are moving and I think uh this generation they have like

so they have born uh with smartphones right so data is is there in their fingertips so as faculties probably we just need to guide them in a proper way.

So the traditional way of teaching might not be very helpful right now. You have

to be very open and collaborative. So

this rather teacher student dollar relationship now we have to be be their friends and kind of guide them right.

Um okay moving to the design industry or design as a field as it stands now. So necessity is the

mother of all invention and um AI is here and AI is here to stay. How do you think that the the the very long used or very prominent principles that we use in

the say in the field of user experience design or branding or interior design whatever those principles might be how do you think do you think those will change or does

AI affect those or how do you think if uh if it does how do you think it affects those principles?

No, not necessarily. I think the fundamental is still the same uh and it is going to be like that. I can vouch for it. uh what happened with AI is uh

for it. uh what happened with AI is uh the processes are faster. We can uh you know uh have some breathing space the way we used to handle clients let's say

maybe four clients in a month or so now we can uh handle like 16 clients uh all together using AI tools and stuff we can we we can better manage things. So that

way the fundamental is not going to change for sure. So uh that that is still there and uh the user flow and how

uh the research method methodologies are or how you do ideation or maybe conceptualization and maybe prototyping those methods may change. I I can give

you one example. So precoid we used to uh showcase our idea through uh different uh wireframes and then we used to give uh we used to take that wireframe make visual designs and then

prototype and show it to the client for feedback and stuff. These days we are using heavily Figma make where we can create the prototypes on the go and ideate along with the prototype. So that

becomes very very easy for the client to kind of uh actualize what the real software is going to look like. So that

becomes very easy for us and not just for uh uh software industry. We do a lot of projects for pharma then healthcare and then uh you know product development

automotive. So it helps a lot because

automotive. So it helps a lot because you can uh synthesize and simulate those uh prototypes very easily now right and uh um since we are so heavily

reliant on technology to do like a lot of um say say the mechanical work for us how do you think that uh designers can sort of make or create this balance

between like you know creating an automation and also like you know pushing their creative boundaries. what

is the balance and how do how do designers achieve that so I think every designers are different so let's say if I'm comfortable uh in

sitting uh and thinking about a lot of things but uh compared to that suppose you are not very comfortable in thinking about stuff maybe you just try to create

doodles and then you can ideate better so you need to know your own superpower okay and then decide how you can improvise your own process processes.

For example, uh I am very comfortable at thinking. I can visualize a lot of

thinking. I can visualize a lot of things uh the way I want. I can ideate in my brain. Now I can just go create

quick sketches take that put it in uh in different tools and make AI uh ideate more on those lines. So the first fundamental idea that comes from me and

then I try to create variations using that and then once those ideation is there in front of my eyes then I can start my sketching because it's it's kind of reducing my time but not necessarily this thing will be helpful

for you.

Suppose you are already very fast in sketching there is no point of you know kind of use my methods to do it right.

So that is why I suggest that you need to know your superpower and then uh align those uh tools and uh you know products so that you can make things

faster and better.

Correct. But the pond of creativity in every designer or every human being for that matter is only so much. So we need to regularly dip into our resources to just like refilled or uh rejuvenate that

pond. What are your resources? Do you

pond. What are your resources? Do you

listen to music? Are you looking at blogs? Are you looking at podcasts? Uh

blogs? Are you looking at podcasts? Uh

where are you finding your ideas? What

is keeping you inspired?

This is a very interesting question actually. So uh I can say you are asking

actually. So uh I can say you are asking about my cheat codes.

Yeah. So uh so as designers or or any creative field uh if belong to then a lot of times you feel very blank and

sometimes you just get lost because of so so much of data so much of uh you know uh tools you know so many things

right so the mental block is a very normal thing what I usually do is uh I

go for bike rides Okay. So I I love uh bike ridings because inside the helmet I don't think much. Okay. So in the background music is like your engine

noise and then you are just heading ahead and then aimlessly I ride right ride right ride right ride right ride right ride right ride right ride right ride right ride right ride right ride right ride right ride right ride right ride right ride right ride right ride right ride right ride right ride right ride right ride right ride right ride right ride right ride right ride right ride right ride right ride I'll just

give you one example uh we were doing one project for Kia motors uh automotive project and that point of time it we were under tremendous pressure and there there was lot of deadlines and stuff

like that and suddenly I felt that block nothing was coming out of my mind it was pre-covid way back when uh it it was before Kia Motors launched in India

actually Then uh me and my wife we went to Goa for breakfast and came back from Pune. Okay. Then so it was like crazy

Pune. Okay. Then so it was like crazy because we uh started our journey late in the night, reached over there, had breakfast and then came back and after

that I was just fine. Okay. So that is my cheat code but not necessarily you have to do that. Uh it takes a years of practice to you know write safe but you

can find your own way. I suppose

whatever you like uh you should uh continue doing that sketching listening to music whatever but you should understand that uh what you like the

most and you should do it more often.

Yeah. Um okay so looking ahead what emerging trends should designers be aware of in the next 5 10 years? Uh

keeping AI in mind or not keeping AI in mind what do you see as emerging around you?

Yeah. uh the immediate thing which I feel is generative AI is going to take over the normal AI because uh generative

AI is like if I if I give examples uh normal AI is like you prompt to create some uh UI but in generative AI you can

uh build on the fly things so there's a lot of disruption which is going to be happen and uh many companies are like uh coming up with very crazy tools

For example, Comet recently uh launched their browser and then in in return uh Google also uh integrated Gemini to uh Chrome. So things are changing very fast

Chrome. So things are changing very fast and generative AI is going to be very crazy. Apart from that we also uh see a

crazy. Apart from that we also uh see a lot of changes happening in voice and multimodal interfaces. Specifically, I

multimodal interfaces. Specifically, I see that changes in automotive uh in car dashboard systems uh and uh instrument panels. So there's a lot of uh uh

panels. So there's a lot of uh uh multi-model uh interfaces which you know uh works in harmony to kind of give you that safer experiences. So we need to

think about that maybe hyperpersonalization is also going to be very important uh going forward with AI.

So maybe uh suppose you create one product right now for example uh Instagram Instagram is behaving same for everyone right maybe you will find Instagram when I log in I I'll I'll see a different interface when you loging in

probably you'll see a different interface based on how you approach so that is very very important and uh I also reiterate about uh the ethical part

of it because there there are many companies who are taking our own data and then they are repurposed is uh they're doing a lot of those things and

then uh recreating things. So we need to be very careful about that. I think

government regulation will also take over at at some Sure. Yeah, I agree with you.

Sure. Yeah, I agree with you.

Um so okay uh this is a two-parter sort of question. A

question. A as a recruiter, as an employer of designer and a designer yourself, what is it that you are looking for uh in

portfolios like what sort of projects and what sort of work should uh people put in their portfolios and the the

second part is how do you also judge for like AI readiness in their portfolio. So

what sort of angle or what sort of um exercises that should they put in their portfolio which sort of demonstrate like I'm a good designer but I'm also like AI ready.

This is very interesting. First thing uh I would like to say that your communication should be very clear what you really want and do a bit of research about the company you are applying.

Okay. I get some messages like you know no subject line email body PFA then they'll give one link of Google

opposite of hyperpersonalization then imagine my situation okay I suppose I'm receiving 200 plus uh emails in a

day and in between you you expect me to click one email who doesn't have a subject line and then nobody there is one click of uh there is one link which

I have to click download stuff open it and then review it. I usually delete that that right away. Okay. So you need to be really uh so suppose you tell that

you are a UX designer you need to understand about that user experience with the recruiter as well. You have to make it easier for them.

That is very very important. Suppose you

say that I can use generative AI to create websites. Make it a website

create websites. Make it a website portfolio and send it. Just do it. Don't

tell that you can. So that is very very important. And then second thing is uh

important. And then second thing is uh I'm not very bothered about how many projects you have in your portfolio. If

you have one, have a very good one. That

is very very important. That should

demonstrate that you understand people, you understand uh data points. You can

create sense out of those data and implement those things in your project and finally come up with the solution.

And when we have that interview around, you should explain your project properly. Don't try to copy paste and

properly. Don't try to copy paste and cheat yourself. So in this scenario you

cheat yourself. So in this scenario you can easily go to Figma community. I see

that a lot Figma community and then you take up some project you know do some changes and then you put that in your portfolio. I see it in a daily basis

portfolio. I see it in a daily basis right I can easily see and that okay copy pasted so let's reject it. So

originality keep that it is very very important and don't uh judge yourself that you know how uh you know kind of finishing touches you are giving or not

you're starting your career it's okay we we need to hire people who can think on their own that is very very important so that should not be a problem

right uh coming back to the AI conversation that we were having do you have any personal anecdotes from when AI I really either like really deterated

your design or really like enhanced some design decision like really drastic uh change did AI make in your any of your projects?

I have experienced both the things in one project. I can tell tell you about

one project. I can tell tell you about that. So that project we are currently

that. So that project we are currently working on. So that is that project is a

working on. So that is that project is a hardware plus uh software project. So we

have to do a product design and the SAS model uh of that product as well. So I

can't give you much detail about it but uh what I can say is while product designing we did a lot of ideations uh using AI and all the ideations were of

no use for sure because we we were kind of trying to create something new and AI the biggest disadvantage of AI is they are trained on existing data right they

can think on their own so AI could not able to help us in uh you know uh you know finding out new ideas AI I failed

that way. AI wasted our time for sure.

that way. AI wasted our time for sure.

And in the same project, AI helped us to create that research very very beautifully because we could able to find out really interesting data points

for uh the end users. So combination of AI in research and uh our human intelligence in the ideation stage combinedly the project was really good.

Right.

Yeah. I think uh I will open the floor uh to questions now. Um because I think we've covered most of all what uh I had

in mind. Um so we can we can sort of

in mind. Um so we can we can sort of move on to the questions from our audience members.

Yeah.

Please use the Q&A box that you see at the bottom of your screen to put in your question and then we'll answer it systematically.

Okay.

Yeah. One question.

Yeah.

Place where we can learn to use AI as a designer.

Yeah.

uh is there not a particular place I would say because uh currently you can actually find out a lot of information in internet if you just go and uh search

in uh the internet you will see a lot of things uh but the problem is uh you know the data validity is very very important

so there are many so-called influencers are there in internet design influencers and there I understand that you know those are very young they have not seen many uh difficult projects in their life

and then they suggest few things which may not help uh the students. So try to use your brain to understand whether they are making sense or not because uh

in design industry I see a lot of uh senior designers they are not in not very active in social media. So voicing

out uh in the social media is also very very important. uh so try to find out

very important. uh so try to find out people who make sense for you and uh try to follow those things and then uh also dig in uh to different kind of tools and

explore on your own. Uh so do it practically. So and if you have a

practically. So and if you have a student email id then you are you are the most powerful pe people on earth right now because almost all AI tools are giving free uh access to uh

students. So go and explore.

students. So go and explore.

Yeah. I think uh trial and error is the key. Yes,

key. Yes, Praul also has another question. Praul

is asking how will be how will the freelance design market be in the AI era? What will be the impact of it in

era? What will be the impact of it in the freelance market?

Yeah. So people have started uh giving uh a lot of work to freelancers. In fact

agencies also they try to uh uh get on board few freelancers. But you need to have a very good discipline because uh to be very honest uh freelancers they do

not have that you know trust quotient uh uh with the clients because you need to have like very strong uh ethical standards and then uh you also uh show a

lot of commitments. So that is very very important but uh you also need to uh uh you know uh it it's like you are a soloreneur right? So you need to also

soloreneur right? So you need to also adopt a lot of AI tools for your own processes to make your life easier.

Suppose you are working on multiple projects. You should handle it uh in a

projects. You should handle it uh in a proper way. There AI can actually help

proper way. There AI can actually help you a lot. But uh becoming a solopreneur is also very very challenging sometimes because that you are you are trading

your time with money, right? So it's

very important to take care of her health as well.

Right?

Somebody saying I am an architecture graduate but I'd like to get into UIUX design. Can you give me some tips on

design. Can you give me some tips on where to begin?

Fundamentally every design uh fields are the same if I uh would say so the way you uh approach any architectural

project or any automotive project or any YUX project it's it's revolve around the people right. So

people right. So in the heart of it is always human- centered design. So you need to draw a

centered design. So you need to draw a parallel to understand how UIUX is close or far away from architecture and then you can relate to that and then uh also

you need to start with some hands-on projects. That's the only way you can uh

projects. That's the only way you can uh learn uh you know um by doing uh things by by committing mistakes and then you

know improvising on that and stuff. If

you want to get into UIS just go go for it. Go for it. Yeah.

it. Go for it. Yeah.

Um somebody's asking a lot of recruiters still don't take AI as a positive sign.

If I'm using AI in my design process, what do you think I'm doing wrong in this process?

Very interesting question. You do not have to really tell about that you are using AI or not. You just show your project internally. You may use AI but

project internally. You may use AI but uh this is also true that people do not prefer uh you know AI generated project.

AI laid project is fine. I mean uh you should talk about your project your understanding your uh fundamental idea behind it but don't necessarily have to justify that you are using AI to do

that. So there is no point in kind of

that. So there is no point in kind of showcasing that in your portfolio or showcasing that in your CV. It's just

that you can somewhere mention that you are uh ready to adapt that should reflect in your portfolio and CV.

Correct. Uh, Yugi is asking, "As design students entering the industry, how can we prepare ourselves to collaborate with AI instead of competing with it? And

what specific uh skills should we focus on building now to stay relevant in the coming five years?" I think we've covered this in the I've answered this one. Yeah. Yeah.

Uh before. Do you want to add something to it or anything? to stay relevant as I was telling you uh you have to be very very uh careful about uh understanding

people and then uh you need to understand problem framing then uh critical thinking is very very important AI uh right now it is kind of a hype

maybe at some point of time AI will also settle down a bit and that will become part of our life and few things we will adopt few things we'll reject so those things will going to happen so just focus on your fundamentals

It's like when when we started working on computers.

Yeah. Yeah.

Doing manual hand stuff. Yeah. Correct.

Um Okay. So, this is something that I was

Okay. So, this is something that I was expecting would come, but okay. Do you

have any free AI resources that we can use?

I do not produce any AI tools as such.

But yes uh as I was telling uh you can utilize your student uh email id to you know get a hang of all these AI tools because most of the AI tools are giving

uh free access to students and apart from that also most of the recommendations of which ones do you think are okay that way you are saying so uh for

for ideation we usually uh we used to use a lot of midjourney and Delhi but right now we are using Sora also And for

uh copywriting we are using chipity a lot. For uh research uh we are using

lot. For uh research uh we are using perplexity because that gives us the access to multiple LLM models so that we

can easily do that and apart from that uh we use Figma AI a lot uh Figma in terms of Figma make and also use few Figma plugins which is like uh easier

for us. Yeah. one point I can actually

for us. Yeah. one point I can actually tell you that uh we have moved our graphic designing things also to Figma these days we are not we are seriously

not using uh illustrator anymore because there are a lot of uh plugins which is there which which can actually convert your Figma to uh print ready files

so we are using those things and I I've heard a lot about lovable also that it can make very like you know so there are many tools actually yeah so that is called wip coding. So there are

many tools uh if you can actually see lovable is very easy to use. So this is like prompt based uh uh coding you can

say but uh you know don't restrict yourself to that only what I suggest is uh if you use let's say for websites if

you use uh let's say wix or maybe web flow or maybe framer all are giving AI integrations these days. So you can integrate many other tools to this one and then you need to understand those

ecosystem. We are doing one project with

ecosystem. We are doing one project with wig studio and then we realized that there's a lot of uh different tools there also you can integrate uh uh different uh plugins and then you can do

manual coding as well. So that gives a lot of uh flexibility and then uh there are al also marketing integrations as well. So

well. So it's not just about creating the product right you need to get go to the market and also test it over there. So you need to understand that way.

Yeah.

Okay. Uh somebody's saying, "Hi, I want to move from growth marketing. I I have 2.5 years experience to conversion rate optimization specialist which involves a

lot of UIUX plus marketing uh like landing page optimization etc. I'm very interested in this role. How to move in?

Any thoughts?

Very interesting. Uh this fields involves a lot of data points actually.

So you should be very keen on understanding those data because uh if you are if you want to focus on con conversion rates then you need to

understand how that particular let's say campaign or maybe landing page is performing and how you can make those changes and then again run those

campaigns and you know have better results. So where UX and UI uh is

results. So where UX and UI uh is required is to understand uh uh the human psychology part of it. If you do not understand that then uh it'll become

difficult for you to kind of make those changes in your existing design and once you kind of do that you should have a very keen understanding on human behavior and uh along with that you can

actually combine your data insights and kind of become a very good CRO specialist right um somebody saying as

there are so many tools coming on a daily basis how can We make sure we are using the correct ones. Any tips?

Oh, we are also suffering from the same thing.

Maybe at some some point I'll ask you for tips.

Yeah, because uh this is like the transition phase. Okay. So that is why

transition phase. Okay. So that is why most most of the times you see a lot of uh tools are coming up because most of the tools are like a wrapper uh to the existing tools. Okay. So there are like

existing tools. Okay. So there are like few LLM models in the world and then people use those things and then create their own tools. Uh it'll settle down in a year or two max because you will

understand that for majority of the workflows there will be like few tools only. Uh but you can expect that this

only. Uh but you can expect that this will going to be there for like next one in one one and a half years or so.

Yeah. Rajul is saying according to world economy forum future job report 2025 graphic design is at least in UIU uh UX is on top uh what's your thought on

this? I think they're talking about like

this? I think they're talking about like as a yeah as a career. So uh first of all I would

like to tell that uh this spectrum is like getting very bigger. So graphic designing is like a

bigger. So graphic designing is like a part of UIUX design and UIUX design is a part of CX design. Okay. So you need to

be very careful about uh uh what is your superpower. That is what I was telling

superpower. That is what I was telling and you need to understand that where you fit in. So suppose you are a very good uh graphic designer, you do not really have to worry about it. And

suppose you are very good at UX, you should not be very worried about it.

Tools will come and go. But uh why this is on top you know because this is kind of uh started to influence uh the

business decisions and then uh UIUX can actually make or break a product. So

impact wise it is creating a lot of uh uh you know what would I say lot of uh dependency. So if you do not

have that design first approach in your product then your product may fail. So

that is why people are getting very serious about this. So if you look at new age startups from India they are all designcentric uh they all have designcentric approach and design first approach.

Yeah.

And in in in uh current times I also feel that the the boundary or like the the outline of what

you can actually call a designer is actually a like expanding as we speak blur actually it's very it's very blur. So what used to be a UX developer now is also a UIUX designer

and like things if you're doing UX also then you might need to do UI also. So

there's like specialists say generalist maximum people will be generalist but uh the one who is going to top the letter will be specialists for sure because you need to also understand how you can

utilize your skill set in that particular industry. Suppose we are

particular industry. Suppose we are doing something for let's say automotive or pharma. Are we really good good at

or pharma. Are we really good good at understanding pharma or automotive? That

is also a very important factor to understand because you need to also understand how things are changing in that uh field because normally design is fine because automotive there's a lot of

distraction guidelines government rules regulations Europe Thailand left hand drive right this is lot many things so this is beyond uh

design okay but you need to uh understand those things to become a better design correct So it's important generalist you

can survive by becoming a generalist but your aim should be uh you know looking at becoming a specialist at some point of time.

Correct.

Yeah.

Um somebody's saying using AI can also lead to some legal challenges. How do we prepare ourselves for that? Oh, I'm glad for uh so whoever is this uh thank you

for this thank you for asking this question that you actually uh uh you know forced me to not

I was I was talking about ethical design right it is because of that because uh right now that thing is very blurred okay so let's say for example uh

open AAI is trained on a lot of Reddit uh data and Reddit data is very very userentric data and now they are kind of suggesting few things based on those

human experiences. Now the problem is uh

human experiences. Now the problem is uh those all those LLM models are kind of fed into uh uh like all this uh data

till 2024 25 26 maybe and after that we are creating junk and pushing back to the system now. So

and then uh rest assured that if if you have a logical brain you will survive for sure and legal challenges will happen because there are many people who

have challenged this big corporates uh and dragged them into uh courts. They

say deviant art is one platform where uh artists put their work right and many of these LLM platforms are kind of trained on those things and now they are creating artworks which you cannot tell

original or something like that.

Correct.

And while driving to my office, I always listen to radio and then uh I always see I I always listen to this uh AI generated uh songs and then the RJ

always says that uh it's a great collaboration between the artist and AI.

Now it's it's very difficult to create original content that way. Maybe at some point of time governments uh different uh countries the government will realize those things and then maybe come up with

some regulations. For now that is still

some regulations. For now that is still a very blur thing.

Correct. Um

any thoughts on service design and design strategist? How can we move

design strategist? How can we move towards this goal?

Service design, service design is very very critical and uh in the same way design strategy is also very very important because uh you kind of impact

uh to a larger audience and then service design is also very complex because you need to understand a lot of uh stakeholders. For example, you are

stakeholders. For example, you are designing uh signage for metro station example. So you see a lot of uh

example. So you see a lot of uh different kind of target audiences there, right? And then the signage

there, right? And then the signage should be uh in such a way that it it should communicate the same thing to say all the different kind of people and

stuff. And then apart from that uh in

stuff. And then apart from that uh in critical industries for example healthcare the service ind the service design is very very important and uh if

one doctor is kind of uh interacting with a medical device and taking decision on behalf of uh a patient then it is it becomes very challenging there.

So that is why I told you right. So

become a generalist that is fine but you also need to understand the domain you like and get into it.

Okay. I think uh we have this last question from Sivan M. Uh he's saying thanks a lot for the valuable session sir. Could you please tell us how we can

sir. Could you please tell us how we can improve communication and time management?

Wow very cute question. very very important question as well.

Important as well. Yes.

So communication is like it has become very very uh important these days. Now

imagine example. Okay. So how you can communicate to your batchmates compared to your faculties compared to the recruiter you are talking about right?

You need to understand their history their their cultural differences and all. Okay. So uh generation wise if you

all. Okay. So uh generation wise if you look at it uh the way you communicate the Zenzil lingu lingo okay uh maybe a boomer generation guy will not

understand and sometimes the millennial will take offense you don't know you but you need to communicate them so you have to be very very open about uh the user

behavior my way is highway concept I I talk to Zenz in their language so that they can understand and it it it's kind of challenging for me to kind of understand their language. It's it's

changing every now and then but uh that way I kind of extract the best out of them because I can communicate that they need to also understand my boundaries

what is offensive for me or not. So that

way you need to be very careful about those things and try to learn some formal communication when when you are officially communicating to different recruiters or maybe clients. It is very

very important and try to understand where is the border borderline of you know uh uh where you become very professional and become very witty. Uh

so important at that point of time because people do not like to talk to boring people anyway. So formal

people anyway. So formal so you have to be very careful about those things. Communication and another

those things. Communication and another thing what was time management.

Time management. Yeah, it's it's very very critical time management. I and I suggest everyone who is listening to me right now, take care of your health. It

is very very important. Give time to yourself. So you really need to

yourself. So you really need to understand uh the work hours you are uh you are kind of assigned yourself to

let's say for example post 637 I do not work for my uh office. Okay. So rest of the things I do post that suppose I want

to do something for my myself I do it afterwards okay we do not take uh meetings calls client communication post office hours so and we do not also talk

to each other I'm talking about my teammates we don't do not talk to each other in weekends so that is one policy we are uh very much careful about and

you need to uh give time to yourself to figure out uh the superpower you possess and uh automatically you will get a hint

how to manage your time. Nobody can

actually advise people if you ask me I'll tell tell you about my experience which may not be helpful for you. So

you'll get all those answers.

Um thank you for all your insights on design and AI and education. and I

really feel rich and uh like I I I mean there's so much information thrown at me. I need to sort of process it and like think about it also. Um thank you so much for doing

also. Um thank you so much for doing this with us. Uh Gotham, I usually like to close all these sessions with uh my favorite question to ask that um if you

were to redesign something and then there is no constraint in the world. You

can redesign anything. You can redesign something very small like a safety pin also. You can redesign the Delhi Metro

also. You can redesign the Delhi Metro railway system also. What would you redesign?

There is something which is very close to my heart which is uh automotive infotainment systems. These days all these OEMs are getting crazy by slapping

a lot bigger tab there. Uh I think we need to go back to the basics. I just

don't want to redesign. I want to enforce that as well.

So the cars are becoming uh you know distraction magnets now and and in the future also you'll feel like all the safety features is only going to be

responsible for uh safety lapses. So I

would like to redesign those things and uh I would like to make few things which is very very important get back to the

basic and uh probably uh uh you know I should feel like you know entertainment box.

Great.

Thank you so much Gotham. Uh thank you everyone who stuck around till the end of the session. I know it's a bit late but thank you for uh um joining us today. I hope you really learned

today. I hope you really learned something and have fun had fun while uh at it. So, thank you for joining us.

at it. So, thank you for joining us.

Thank you, Gotham. Uh with that, I say good night and bye-bye.

Thank you so much. My pleasure. Right.

Good night.

Good night.