Monday, March 23, 2-3 PM
370 Jay Street, 522
In the last two years, AI has quickly reshaped how design work happens by compressing timelines, blurring roles, and challenging long held assumptions about the design process. Designers are increasingly being asked not just to produce outcomes, but to articulate the value of their thinking, judgment, and decision-making.
But an even deeper shift is happening now: across industry, designers, researchers, strategists, and product leaders are in the midst of learning how to work with AI as a thought partner—not as a shortcut, and not as a replacement for their work. This shift is uneven and often messy: practices are still forming, norms are still being negotiated, and there is no single “right” way yet. The next wave of learning and innovation is around helping people learn how to think, judge, and make decisions in collaboration with AI—an area where both industry and education are still actively experimenting and learning.
In this talk, Ann Conway draws on real-world examples of applied AI to share perspectives from industry on what changes when AI enters design practice and what those changes may surface for design education. The session invites reflection on a set of emerging questions, including:
As industry shifts from valuing outputs to valuing judgment, how should design programs think about core skills—and how those skills are assessed?
If AI enables activities like research, synthesis, and ideation to happen in parallel or in new sequences, what does that mean for legacy models of the design process?
As roles continue to blur across design, research, strategy, and product, what new forms of practice are emerging—and how might students prepare for them?
This talk is intended as a provocation and conversation starter, offering industry perspectives that faculty and students can use to reflect on what design education may need to question, adapt, or re-imagine in an AI-rich world.
About the speaker
Ann Conway is an ECT alumna and design strategist working at the intersection of human-centered design, customer experience, and artificial intelligence. She is the founder of Amplify Design, a customer experience strategy studio that partners with organizations to design customer-centered services and growth strategies.
Ann’s work focuses on how AI is reshaping design and research practice. She regularly teaches and advises designers, researchers, and strategists on AI-supported methods and workflows that can both accelerate and deepen their work.
