Nick Babich
@101babich • 24,276 subscribers
Product designer. Editor-in-chief of @uxplanet
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AI instead of UI The last few years radically changed how we think about digital products & product design process in general. What we are witnessing right now is a transition where AI is no longer just a feature; it is becoming the infrastructure of interaction. For decades, UI design was rooted in the concept of “Happy Path,” a series of static, linear screens (routes from A to B) designed to funnel users toward a goal. This “one-size-fits-all” approach assumes that all users have the same mental model, which is far from the truth. The rise of AI tools like ChatGPT and Gemini is showing that we are moving into an era of Generative Interfaces. Instead of a designer pre-determining every button and menu, the interface is synthesized in real-time based on user actions. Back in 2019, Gleb Kuznetsov and I were working on the concept of morphing Interface, the idea of a UI that adapts its structure based on user intent. The great thing about this UI is that it was highly dynamic: different users saw different content/contextual actions based on their behavior. This concept was crazy in 2019, but it is highly relevant to the modern state of the product design process. And I strongly believe that it represents the future of UI design. We will move beyond the “AI chatbox" crutch Yes, many products today treat AI as a sidecar (think of Copilots or chatbots pinned to the side of a traditional dashboard), but this is a transitional phase. Why? Because adding a chat window to a 20-year-old software layout is like putting a jet engine on a horse-drawn carriage. That's why the future isn't "AI as an add-on"; it is AI as the Operating System. AI will power generative interfaces that are rooted in anticipatory design: UI won’t wait for a command; it will surface tools based on the user's current environmental context and historical behavior. This evolution changes the very nature of product design, and we will move away from designing pages/screens and toward designing systems of logic.
Nick Babich53,178 views • 4 months ago
“No AI used” I’m seeing more and more designers proudly saying “No AI used” It instantly reminds me of the Italian “Fatto a Mano,” a label that never meant just handmade, but stood for care, taste, and deep craftsmanship. We’re entering a similar phase with AI. As AI becomes faster, cheaper, and ubiquitous, it will naturally define the mass-market baseline of product design. Efficient. Scalable. Predictable. And that’s exactly why human-made will start to matter more, not less. “No AI used” will not mean anti-technology. It will mean intentionality: time spent, judgment applied, taste exercised. AI for scale. Humans for soul. Design by Gleb Kuznetsov
Nick Babich39,435 views • 4 months ago
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