Find the expensive bit
Identify where the team is losing time, confidence, or momentum.
How I use AI without losing the plot
AI has made iteration almost free. The scarce resource is no longer ideas; it is clarity. I use AI to make thinking visible earlier, compare directions, and give teams something concrete to challenge.
The goal is not to pull the lever more often. It is to know why I am pulling it in the first place.
The instant-change slot machine
The slot machine is not the AI. It is the designer behaviour that appears when another version costs almost nothing. Every variation can feel like progress. Sometimes it is. Often it is just another pull without a clearer question.
AI changeOne more version
Reward loopMaybe better
What slipsShallow learning
Learning lost0%
Pull the lever to feel how easy it is to chase one more variation.
Pull for one more
Before asking for another change, choose the learning question:
My process is less “magic button” and more messy studio wall.
I use AI to reduce the cost of exploration, so I can test more routes, surface edge cases, and give teams something useful to react to sooner. The important bit is keeping enough friction to ask what the work is meant to teach us.
AI helps me explore before committing, not commit without reflection.
A prototype is only useful when everyone understands what it is testing.
Ethics, accessibility, product context, and final judgement stay with the human team.