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AI is nudging designers to test more, guess less

Published 19 July 2026 · Source dated 5 October 2025

One designer's account of how AI has shifted their process toward faster, rougher first drafts and more testing. It's a single anecdote, but it points at a real methods shift worth reflecting on.

This isn't a research study — it's one designer's personal account — but it echoes a pattern worth naming. Kazden Cattapan describes their workflow becoming 'less precious': rougher first passes, faster loops, more testing before committing to a direction. That's a methods shift, not just a tools one. If AI makes drafts cheap to produce, the bottleneck moves from 'how polished is my first mockup' to 'how well am I testing and iterating on it'. Worth reflecting on for your own process, especially early in your career when it's tempting to over-polish a first idea before you've actually validated anything with a real user or stakeholder.

Coach

On your next task, timebox your first draft to 30 minutes, then spend the time you saved getting feedback from one person instead of polishing further.

Source: medium.com ·