A lot of people ask if AI is replacing designers. From my experience, the answer is no. It's changing how we work.

Over the past year, AI has become part of almost every stage of my design process. It hasn't replaced design thinking or user empathy. Instead, it's helped me move faster, validate ideas earlier, and spend more time solving the right problems instead of getting caught up in repetitive tasks.

1. Research Always First

Every project still starts with understanding the problem.

I gather insights through user research, community forum discussions, and existing documentation. At AlayaCare, we have well-documented personas and product knowledge sharing through Glean, making it easy to build context before designing anything.

Once I have enough information, AI helps me accelerate the process. I use it to draft surveys, organize research findings, identify recurring themes, and create artifacts that would normally take much longer to assemble. The thinking still comes from me. AI simply helps me get there faster.

2. Prototyping in Cursor

This is probably the biggest shift in my workflow.

Instead of jumping straight into Figma, I often start by building a functional prototype with Cursor. Having something interactive allows me to validate ideas much earlier than static mockups ever could.

One recent example was a Notes feature. Using Cursor, I built a working prototype that allowed users to create notes, browse existing notes, and edit them. I also used AI to generate realistic content throughout the experience, making the prototype feel much closer to a real product than placeholder text ever could.

That realism makes a huge difference when presenting concepts to stakeholders or testing with users.

3. Test Early

Once the prototype is ready, I put it in front of users.

Because the experience is interactive, conversations become much more meaningful. Users aren't reacting to static screens. They're completing tasks, exploring flows, and providing feedback based on how the product actually feels.

Those insights help shape the solution long before a single component is finalized.

4. Create Deliverables in Figma

Only after validating the experience do I move into Figma.

At this stage, I'm no longer exploring ideas. I'm refining them. I break the experience into reusable components, align everything with the design system, create user stories, and prepare detailed handoffs for developers.

The prototype helps validate the concept. Figma becomes the source of truth for implementation.

Final Thoughts

AI hasn't replaced any part of my design process. It has simply shifted where I spend my time.

Instead of investing hours in repetitive documentation, placeholder content, or static prototypes, I can focus on the things humans should still be doing: research, collaboration, testing, and refining the experience.

For me, that's the biggest promise of AI in design. It doesn't replace creativity. It gives us more time to use it.