As every year, I’m sharing my predictions for what UX/UI designers should prepare for in the months ahead. Typically, I start by summarizing the previous year’s trends. However, this time, the topic is too important - I want to focus entirely on what’s coming. If you want to revisit last year’s trends, check out my blog.

Now, let’s dive into what lies ahead.

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Design process disrupted

This year, instead of listing long list of trends, I’ll focus on the four most important changes we need to prepare for. First one is a complete transformation of how we work.

Don’t get me wrong—the current double diamond process isn’t going anywhere. It’s still an excellent framework for solving the right problems in the right way. However, every activity within this process is about to change significantly, thanks to the rapid development of AI.

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Tasks that used to take hours will soon be almost entirely automated. Hard to believe? I’ve dedicated significant effort to uncovering how AI will empower UX/UI designers.

Here are a few examples:

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Design process disrupted by AI

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Example 1: Starting a project

Now: Preparing for an in-depth client or stakeholder interview requires manual review of the brief, noting key areas to evaluate, and analyzing their product or website, plus seeking for online reviews of the product. Later we need to create a script for the interview and, post-meeting, going through notes or rewatching recordings to ensure all information is captured. Finally, we compile these materials in a tool like Notion, that for sure is convenient, but it still involves significant manual effort.

With AI: Imagine using tools like ChatGPT or Claude to analyze the brief and highlight key insights. Solutions such as GPT or Perplexity may then gather and summarize product information or user pain points from app store reviews and Google. Based on this data and industry best practices, AI can draft a contextual stakeholder interview complete with proposed success metrics. Post-interview, AI assistants like Tactiq could summarize the meeting, and tools like NotebookLM from Google could store all the project’s knowledge, requirements, and summaries for immedite access throughout the project.

Time saved with AI: 8–12 hours condensed into 2–3 hours. The interview itself doesn’t change, but preparation and documentation become far more efficient, with no impact on quality. Plus, future phases benefit from instant access to organized materials.

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Example 2: Usability research

Now: This involves manual identification of challenges and pain points to test with a prototype, drafting a usability testing script, recruiting users (if you’re lucky enough to have a tool for this), moderating 5–8 sessions (each lasting about an hour), and writing a detailed report based on your notes. Often, you need to rewatch some sessions to ensure nothing is missed.

With AI: After discussing potential challenges with a synthetic user—an AI persona built from real user data—you form hypotheses for testing. The prototype, created in Figma, is shared with an AI-driven research tool like Genway.ai. The tool handles user recruitment, moderates the tests, and summarizes the insights. You can now iterate or finalize the solution with confidence.

Time saved with AI: 16–20 hours reduced to 3–4 hours, with significant automation of recruitment, testing, and analysis.

I could provide countless examples for nearly every step of the design process. Can you see how AI is transforming our work?

It will affect literally every piece of design process. You will need much less time for every phase to achieve same result. Discovery, define, develop and deliver all of the double diamond activities will be assisted with AI, and will free up a lot of our time.

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Hours turned into minutes, with greater precision and higher-quality outcomes. Best of all, the AI tools I’ve mentioned already exist, so you can start uplifting your daily work today. The key is understanding how AI can integrate into your design process (which is why I’m launching the AI for Designers Masterclass Course).

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Design is business

The next trend comes from the design industry impacted by the first trend I mentioned. As AI increasingly creates beautiful images - and will only get better, how can we prevent it from designing attractive user interfaces like the ones from dribble? Answer is simple: We can’t.

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The age of pixel-pushing is coming to an end. Steve Jobs once said, “Design is not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works.” This quote is valid as never before. Our role is shifting from crafting UI manually to ensuring products and services function as expected.

Design will become more business-oriented, focusing on defining success metrics, understanding users and businesses, and solving real problems. Core skills like user research, deduction, business analysis, creative problem-solving, and empathy will become even more valued.

While AI is mainly replicating past designs, it lacks creativity and the ability to generate innovative ideas. Those who can think outside the box and connect design to business goals, will become the most precious team members.

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Better times for job seekers

After the challenging layoffs of 2023 and a stagnant 2024, the IT industry is finally ready for recovery in 2025.

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While we won’t return to pre-2023 hiring levels, but the industry will stabilize. Companies have realized that layoffs went too far and that people are needed to develop products and services.

While AI is powerful, it can’t replace everything—at least not yet. The growing number of job postings on LinkedIn in recent weeks is a promising sign.

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Small businesses will hire more often AI than freelancers

While demand for designers will rise in some areas, others will see declines.

Small business owners often prefer cost-effective solutions. As future no-code tools, with support of AI, will become capable of deploying websites without involving a designer or developer, small businesses may opt for these alternatives. They typically need simple landing pages, and if AI can generate functional, “good enough” websites, businesses will choose these cheaper options. While Framer is an excellent solution for designers to build real websites, I think that they could be very close to create something in that direction - it’s already really simple, and their AI introduced last year was already able to generate quite usable landing pages for non-demanding individuals or small business. Even closer to this prediction is WIX.com with their AI generator, which seems to be tailored for less technical users.

This shift means freelance designers must move into premium niches. It won’t be enough to create visually appealing websites. Designers will need to demonstrate unique value that AI cannot yet deliver.

I’m not entirely sure this shift will fully materialize in 2025, but it’s certainly on the horizon.

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How to prepare as a designer?

To adapt to these trends, designers must evolve. Learn new skills to bring more value to clients, whether they are small businesses, agencies, or enterprises. Focus on:

• Mastering design process, including integrating automation and AI into your daily work.
• Strengthening analytical skills, focus business perspective, and user empathy.
• Prioritizing value over visual perfection - less focus on UI design, more focus on delivering meaningful results.

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Summing up

2025 looks far more optimistic than the previous two years, but it will bring significant changes to our daily work.

Change is the only constant, and every industry faces it eventually. By staying open to growth and adapting to new tools and methods, you’ll always find opportunities to thrive.

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You may also watch the 2025 trends with additional comments on YouTube:

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By the way

As a designer, I constantly look to the future to prepare for what’s coming. I’ve seen the potential of AI, and I’ve been preparing for its impact, which in the end led me to new ways of working, and finally the course creation — AI for Designers Masterclass.

The course, now in public beta, offers practical guidance on integrating AI into your design workflow. I believe it will help you grow in the coming years.

Thanks for reading!

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