The Future of UX and Product Design: A Strategic Rise
The Future of UX and Product Design: A Strategic Rise
The Future of UX and Product Design: A Strategic Rise
The Future of UX and Product Design: A Strategic Rise
5 minutes to read
5 minutes to read
Saturday, April 5, 2025
Saturday, April 5, 2025
Saturday, April 5, 2025
How a conversation with a startup founder, a shift in tools, and a growing sense of clarity revealed about where design is actually going.
How a conversation with a startup founder, a shift in tools, and a growing sense of clarity revealed about where design is actually going.
It all started with a conversation, over a year ago
It all started with a conversation, over a year ago
It all started with a conversation, over a year ago
Two conversations, actually. I was talking with Natan, a startup founder and a Product Designer, who is building something ambitious, a tool that generates interactive prototypes from screenshots or written descriptions.
At the time, we talked about where UX and Product Design were heading. The field was moving fast, and something about that exchange stuck with me. Quietly. Persistently.
Over time, I kept coming back to it. Eventually, I decided to go deeper. I started speaking with product managers, researchers, designers. I dove into AI in UX trends, hiring patterns, workflow shifts. And somewhere in that process, something clicked. It stopped being a casual curiosity. It became a perspective. And I knew I wanted to share it.
Two conversations, actually. I was talking with Natan, a startup founder and a product designer, who is building something ambitious, a tool that generates interactive prototypes from screenshots or written descriptions.
At the time, we talked about where UX and product design were heading. The field was moving fast, and something about that exchange stuck with me. Quietly. Persistently.
Over time, I kept coming back to it. Eventually, I decided to go deeper.
I started speaking with product managers, researchers, designers. I dove into AI trends, hiring patterns, workflow shifts. And somewhere in that process, something clicked. It stopped being a casual curiosity. It became a perspective. And I knew I wanted to share it.
The profession is changing , and fast
The profession is changing , and fast
The profession is changing , and fast
We’re past the “make the screens pretty” phase. Design today is about shaping systems, organizing flows, collaborating with AI, and more than ever, understanding behavior.
And here’s what I’m seeing: We’re splitting into three paths. Not in conflict, but in evolution.
We’re past the “make the screens pretty” phase. Design today is about shaping systems, organizing flows, collaborating with AI, and more than ever, understanding behavior.
And here’s what I’m seeing: We’re splitting into three paths. Not in conflict, but in evolution.
1. The Strategic Design Role
1. The Strategic Design Role
1. The Strategic Design Role
This person works upstream, before specs are written or anything gets built. They ask:
What problem are we solving?
Why is it valuable?
What’s the right approach from a systems point of view?
They’re not building components, they’re defining product behavior. They don’t need to push pixels to think visually, they map logic, flows, and experience patterns.
They work with engineers early, shaping ideas before they transform into features. This role blends product thinking, UX intuition, and narrative design. It’s strategic, but rooted deep in design and it's logic.
So… isn’t this just Product Management? Not exactly. I’ve asked myself that question too. Product Managers ask: Why are we building this? How will it support the business?
While Strategic Designers ask: How should this work for the user? What’s the best possible experience to solve their problem?
It’s a different lens. A different mission. One focused on function and flow, the other on behavior and systems.
We need both.
This person works upstream, before specs are written or anything gets built. They ask:
What problem are we solving?
Why is it valuable?
What’s the right approach from a systems point of view?
They’re not building components, they’re defining product behavior. They don’t need to push pixels to think visually, they map logic, flows, and experience patterns.
They work with engineers early, shaping ideas before they transform into features. his role blends product thinking, UX intuition, and narrative design. It’s strategic, but rooted deep in design and it's logic.
So… isn’t this just Product Management? Not exactly. I’ve asked myself that question too. Product managers ask: Why are we building this? How will it support the business?
Strategic designers ask: How should this work for the user? What’s the best possible experience to solve their problem?
It’s a different lens. A different mission. One focused on function and flow, the other on behavior and systems. We need both.
2. The Execution & Systems Layer
2. The Execution & Systems Layer
2. The Execution & Systems Layer
This is the hands-on role, the one building real, usable, integrated systems. But it’s not just UI design anymore. It’s:
Creating and working with automated design systems;
Collaborating with AI tools to generate prototypes and flows;
Structuring states, logic, and behavior;
Ensuring everything scales and plays well across a product.
This person is the bridge between concept and code. They speak design, systems, and AI fluently. And they’re becoming more essential than ever.
This is the hands-on role, the one building real, usable, integrated systems. But it’s not just UI design anymore. It’s:
Creating and working with automated design systems;
Collaborating with AI tools to generate prototypes and flows;
Structuring states, logic, and behavior;
Ensuring everything scales and plays well across a product.
This person is the bridge between concept and code. They speak design, systems, and AI fluently. And they’re becoming more essential than ever.
3. UX Research (Now on Its Own Track)
3. UX Research (Now on Its Own Track)
3. UX Research (Now on Its Own Track)
Let’s talk about research. It’s evolving into a true standalone discipline, and honestly, it should. Deep research requires time, depth, and accuracy. The best insights don’t come from a spreadsheet, they come from real conversations, behavioral nuance, and friction that reveals something unexpected.
I don’t lead research full-time, but I’ve done the work: interviews, analysis, field testing. For a strategist, staying close to that process isn’t optional, it’s foundational.
Because if you’re designing without contact with users, you’re just guessing. The most strategic insights often come from the edge cases, the weird behaviors, the confusing silence, the unexpected workarounds. If you can satisfy the needs of an extreme user, you can make any user happy. That’s where products are made or broken.
Let’s talk about research. It’s evolving into a true standalone discipline, and honestly, it should. Deep research requires time, depth, and accuracy. The best insights don’t come from a spreadsheet, they come from real conversations, behavioral nuance, and friction that reveals something unexpected.
I don’t lead research full-time, but I’ve done the work: interviews, analysis, field testing. For a strategist, staying close to that process isn’t optional, it’s foundational.
Because if you’re designing without contact with users, you’re just guessing. The most strategic insights often come from the edge cases, the weird behaviors, the confusing silence, the unexpected workarounds. If you can satisfy the needs os an extreme user, you can make any user happy. That’s where products are made or broken.
[to be continued in Part 2: Digital Twins, the cleanup of the industry, and your actual spicy feelings]
[to be continued in Part 2: Digital Twins, the cleanup of the industry, and your actual spicy feelings]
[to be continued in Part 2: Digital Twins, the cleanup of the industry, and your actual spicy feelings]
[to be continued in Part 2: Digital Twins, the cleanup of the industry, and your actual spicy feelings]
Design is evolving. Let’s spread the word.
Design is evolving. Let’s spread the word.
Design is evolving. Let’s spread the word.
Design is evolving. Let’s spread the word.
Let'S WORK
Let'S WORK
Let'S WORK
TOGETHER
TOGETHER
TOGETHER
Step into a Future Where
Design Meets Innovation
UX Design IS WHERE
INNOVATION MEETS PURPOSE