AI design tools: better, but still narrow — NN/g

NN/g's May 2025 review found AI design tools have genuinely improved but still can't match human output outside narrow, single-task use. The tools designers actually keep using are the boring, specific ones — like Figma's AI layer-renaming.

NN/g followed up their 2024 verdict ('not ready for primetime') with a more measured update: AI design tools are marginally better in 2025, but still nowhere near replacing designers. The tools that stick are **narrow** — focused on one job, like recognising layer patterns to auto-rename and organise them, rather than generating whole flows. This matters because it's easy to feel behind when timelines are full of AI hype. The reality on the ground, per NN/g's interviews with practising designers, is much smaller and more useful: pick the boring task, automate that, keep your judgement for everything else.

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