A fundamental Step Change is coming to product design.
1. UI innovation has stalled
There's only so far you can push the medium of the screen itself. This isn't to say there aren't important refinements to explore, but the user experience won't fundamentally shift again—at least not until we move away from screens. Models have access to so many permutations of good (and bad) design and can access them instantly.
2. Decision-making and taste are the core differentiators
Delivery will no longer be the stalling point for ideas and execution. With the direct application that LLMs and Agents can apply to codebases, we're crossing the line between design and engineering (again). In a sense, we've been inching closer to this border since the Beginning of Product Design. The teams that move the fastest will be those that bridge this gap immediately.
3. Communication of design is shifting away pixels
The monopoly Figma has had on a designer's time is slipping. Every week I spend less and less time in Figma. The pixels are becoming the easy part of the job. Maybe they always were, but now they're also the least efficient. The fear is, by leaning so far into Agentic Workflows, we'll lose our craft. I firmly believe a successful designer is going to need to do both. We have constantly had to be the bridge between emerging technologies and deep-rooted tradition.
So where to next?
I firmly believe that the most important skill for a designer over the next two years is their ability to align teams to a core vision. Pixels might change. The screen itself might change. But the core of design doesn't.
Craft and taste are more important than ever. As the tide of technology rises, don't get swept up in it. True problem solving (hopefully) will remain the main role of a designer.
Edit: What is the next design artifact? And who owns it?