<![CDATA[AI and Design]]>Two Carnegie Mellon faculty explore how artificial intelligence is reshaping the world of design. Each week, we'll break down the latest AI developments, dive deep into AI topics that matter to designers, and talk with fascinating guests who are right at the intersection of these fields.

All views expressed are our own and not reflective of Carnegie Mellon or the Human-Computer Interaction Institute.

]]>https://aianddesignpod.com/Riverside.fm (https://riverside.com)Sat, 14 Mar 2026 14:29:15 GMTTue, 13 Jan 2026 03:30:31 GMT60Dan Saffer and Nik Martelaro<p>Two Carnegie Mellon faculty explore how artificial intelligence is reshaping the world of design. Each week, we'll break down the latest AI developments, dive deep into AI topics that matter to designers, and talk with fascinating guests who are right at the intersection of these fields.<br /><br />All views expressed are our own and not reflective of Carnegie Mellon or the Human-Computer Interaction Institute.</p>episodicDan Saffer and Nik Martelarodsaffer@andrew.cmu.eduno<![CDATA[Very Special Hot Takes Episode: Product Sense, AI Brain Fry, Real Time UI and much much more]]>There was just too many interesting stories this week, so Nik and Dan do a Very Special Hot Takes episode with a wide-ranging conversation that covers 14 topics, including the importance of product sense, open source tools, the cultivation of design judgment, the urgency of AI regulation, the future of AI images, the impact of AI on design jobs, real-time UI, writing specs for AI agents, and breaking the echo chamber in interfaces.

Chapters

  • 01:05 AI Brain Fry
  • 02:47 The Importance of Product Sense
  • 05:40 Collaborative Editing in AI-Generated Images
  • 07:52 The Model is The Machine
  • 12:06 User Experience and Proprietary Data in AI Products
  • 16:06 Sacred Values in AI
  • 19:50 OpenPencil
  • 22:46 Training Design Judgment
  • 26:57 The Critical Need for AI Regulation
  • 30:01 The Future of AI Image Generation
  • 31:50 Sorting Designers
  • 35:38 Real-Time UI
  • 41:58 Writing Effective Specs for AI Agents
  • 45:28 Breaking the Echo Chamber in Interfaces
]]>db0aa216-648e-43da-a835-1f2737f4267bTue, 10 Mar 2026 12:40:52 GMT<p>There was just too many interesting stories this week, so Nik and Dan do a Very Special Hot Takes episode with a wide-ranging conversation that covers 14 topics, including the importance of product sense, open source tools, the cultivation of design judgment, the urgency of AI regulation, the future of AI images, the impact of AI on design jobs, real-time UI, writing specs for AI agents, and breaking the echo chamber in interfaces. </p><p></p><p>Chapters</p><ul><li>01:05 AI Brain Fry </li><li>02:47 The Importance of Product Sense </li><li>05:40 Collaborative Editing in AI-Generated Images </li><li>07:52 The Model is The Machine </li><li>12:06 User Experience and Proprietary Data in AI Products</li><li>16:06 Sacred Values in AI </li><li>19:50 OpenPencil </li><li>22:46 Training Design Judgment </li><li>26:57 The Critical Need for AI Regulation </li><li>30:01 The Future of AI Image Generation </li><li>31:50 Sorting Designers </li><li>35:38 Real-Time UI </li><li>41:58 Writing Effective Specs for AI Agents </li><li>45:28 Breaking the Echo Chamber in Interfaces</li></ul>no00:50:5819Very Special Hot Takes Episode: Product Sense, AI Brain Fry, Real Time UI and much much morefull<![CDATA[Jenny Wen's Three Types of AI Designers, Designers Should Be Crushing It, Managing AI Pressure]]>Dan and Nik delve into the evolving role of designers in the age of AI, emphasizing the need for adaptability, control of your own process, and how vision and judgement are design's superpowers. This episode explores the impact of AI on the design process, the importance of maintaining focus on the work, and the challenges of keeping up with the rapid pace of change in the industry.

]]>d9017298-af68-4204-a1f2-0ad8636b3bc1Tue, 03 Mar 2026 20:58:28 GMT<p>Dan and Nik delve into the evolving role of designers in the age of AI, emphasizing the need for adaptability, control of your own process, and how vision and judgement are design's superpowers. This episode explores the impact of AI on the design process, the importance of maintaining focus on the work, and the challenges of keeping up with the rapid pace of change in the industry.</p>no00:40:2118Jenny Wen's Three Types of AI Designers, Designers Should Be Crushing It, Managing AI Pressurefull<![CDATA[Code and Canvas, Computer Use Agents, The Mythical Agent-Month, Will "Taste" Save Designers?]]>Nik and Dan talk about another announcement from Figma and Anthropic and the impact on the future of design tools. They examine a new research paper from Apple and the HCII on how to best design computer use agents, and talk about Wes McKinney's article The Mythical Agent-Month. They end with discussing the role of taste in an AI world and if it is the skill designers should be focusing on.

]]>387d002c-98e4-4396-b5ea-8437673a397dTue, 24 Feb 2026 23:12:25 GMT<p>Nik and Dan talk about another announcement from Figma and Anthropic and the impact on the future of design tools. They examine a new research paper from Apple and the HCII on how to best design computer use agents, and talk about Wes McKinney's article The Mythical Agent-Month. They end with discussing the role of taste in an AI world and if it is the skill designers should be focusing on.</p><p></p><p></p>no00:42:0517Code and Canvas, Computer Use Agents, The Mythical Agent-Month, Will "Taste" Save Designers?full<![CDATA[State of The Designer 2026, User Control of AI, Waiting is the New Interruption, AI Intensifies Work]]>Dan and Nik delve into the Figma's 2026 State of the Designer Report, people feeling like AI is being shoved at them, the challenges related to AI's impact on flow and attention, and the Harvard Business Report's implications of AI on job satisfaction and work intensification.

]]>d4c4b2bc-9ebf-4661-8b31-b85a08e65012Wed, 18 Feb 2026 00:39:02 GMT<p>Dan and Nik delve into the Figma's 2026 State of the Designer Report, people feeling like AI is being shoved at them, the challenges related to AI's impact on flow and attention, and the Harvard Business Report's implications of AI on job satisfaction and work intensification.</p>no00:33:5416State of The Designer 2026, User Control of AI, Waiting is the New Interruption, AI Intensifies Workfull<![CDATA[OpenAI's Frontier, The Return of The Intuitive Designer, Special Guest: Figma's Shane Johnson]]>Dan and Nik chat about OpenAI's new Frontier platform and what it might mean for designers and even their career paths. We then discuss James Harrison's essay "The Return of The Intuitive Designer." Then Dan interviews Shane Johnson, Principal User Researcher at Figma, on the role that user research has in this AI world.

]]>a67b154b-dacd-4a53-8dfd-8a6b531fdbd8Tue, 10 Feb 2026 11:00:00 GMT<p>Dan and Nik chat about OpenAI's new Frontier platform and what it might mean for designers and even their career paths. We then discuss James Harrison's essay "The Return of The Intuitive Designer." Then Dan interviews Shane Johnson, Principal User Researcher at Figma, on the role that user research has in this AI world.</p>no00:47:4515OpenAI's Frontier, The Return of The Intuitive Designer, Special Guest: Figma's Shane Johnsonfull<![CDATA[Figma MCP, UX vs MX, OpenClaw, Creativity Research, and User Research in 2026]]>Nik and Dan dive deep into Figma MCP and the need for a dual strategy for experience design, that considers both human and AI website visitors. Of course Clawdbot/Moltbot/OpenClaw came up. Some research on creativity, and finally the role of user researchers in the AI world.

]]>ddfb04a6-0464-4692-9dd9-e9debf882c73Tue, 03 Feb 2026 11:00:00 GMT<p>Nik and Dan dive deep into Figma MCP and the need for a dual strategy for experience design, that considers both human and AI website visitors. Of course Clawdbot/Moltbot/OpenClaw came up. Some research on creativity, and finally the role of user researchers in the AI world.</p>no00:43:3114Figma MCP, UX vs MX, OpenClaw, Creativity Research, and User Research in 2026full<![CDATA[Google AI Studio Design Mode, AI at Davos, Claude's Constitution, and Software Too Cheap to Meter]]>Dan and Nik discuss the rumor of Google's AI Studio getting a design mode, Anthropic and DeepMind CEOs at Davos talking about the future of AI, Anthropic's Constitution for Claude, and the concept of software too cheap to meter.

]]>bc70883f-c405-4a70-941a-21ebe4981048Tue, 27 Jan 2026 15:52:44 GMT<p>Dan and Nik discuss the rumor of Google's AI Studio getting a design mode, Anthropic and DeepMind CEOs at Davos talking about the future of AI, Anthropic's Constitution for Claude, and the concept of software too cheap to meter.</p>no00:41:5213Google AI Studio Design Mode, AI at Davos, Claude's Constitution, and Software Too Cheap to Meterfull<![CDATA[Impeccable, AI as Entertainment, The Four Horsemen of the AIpocalypse]]>Nik and Dan discuss Impeccable: a set of skills for AI agents to improve the "AI House Style" designs that AIs are churning out. Then, talking about a new research paper that suggests AI's greatest potential is as entertainment and cultural production. Lastly, we review Dan's article that categorizes four possible futures for AI, including AI disappearing into existing apps, specialized AI features, AI as an operating system, and AI as a universal intermediary.

]]>bbd08ec0-2679-4d08-9930-1e1aef148408Tue, 20 Jan 2026 16:26:20 GMT<p>Nik and Dan discuss Impeccable: a set of skills for AI agents to improve the "AI House Style" designs that AIs are churning out. Then, talking about a new research paper that suggests AI's greatest potential is as entertainment and cultural production. Lastly, we review Dan's article that categorizes four possible futures for AI, including AI disappearing into existing apps, specialized AI features, AI as an operating system, and AI as a universal intermediary.</p>no00:40:2412Impeccable, AI as Entertainment, The Four Horsemen of the AIpocalypsefull<![CDATA[Microsoft Copilot Checkout, Google A2UI, Razer Ava, 2026 Predictions]]>On this week's episode, Nik and Dan discussed:

  • Microsoft’s Copilot Checkout, a new feature that lets US shoppers complete purchases directly inside Copilot without ever leaving the chat window.
  • Google's A2UI, an open-source specification that allows AI agents to generate user interfaces on the fly.
  • And straight from CES, a holographic AI desk companion from Razer.

Plus: our AI and Design Predictions for 2026.

]]>23359897-8659-4e8f-a6b4-2bd775ab3ce9Tue, 13 Jan 2026 03:35:37 GMT<p>On this week's episode, Nik and Dan discussed:<br /></p><ul><li><b>Microsoft’s Copilot Checkout,</b> a new feature that lets US shoppers complete purchases directly inside Copilot without ever leaving the chat window.<br /></li><li><b>Google's A2UI</b>, an open-source specification that allows AI agents to generate user interfaces on the fly.<br /></li><li>And straight from CES, <b>a holographic AI desk companion from Razer</b>.<br /></li></ul><p>Plus: our AI and Design Predictions for 2026.</p>no00:38:0411Microsoft Copilot Checkout, Google A2UI, Razer Ava, 2026 Predictionsfull