Artificial Intelligence1 min read

AI Can Save Time If You Put in the Work Up Front

By · Published by Everything Blog

In short

Undirected artificial intelligence often creates noisy results, unwanted features, and cluttered project backlogs across software workflows. To counter this, practitioners achieve better results by establishing structured outlines for reports or sketching paper wireframes before prompting models for digital assets. Furthermore, defining exact feature sets before generating backlog tickets prevents models from drafting unnecessary tasks. Customizing AI parameters to restrict word counts and omit implementation details ensures teams maintain strict authority over development outputs.

Key points

  • Preliminary human direction is required to prevent models from generating low-quality res…: Preliminary human direction is required to prevent models from generating low-quality results and superfluous product features.
  • Teams can successfully delegate routine tasks like error-state detailing and style variat…: Teams can successfully delegate routine tasks like error-state detailing and style variations once preliminary guidance is provided.
  • Programming customized tools with word-count limits and instructions to exclude implement…: Programming customized tools with word-count limits and instructions to exclude implementation details keeps workers in control.

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At a recent AI for Design workshop at Duke’s Design & Innovation Program, led by Smart Design, the facilitator said something about AI in software development that stuck with me: “Power without direction is noise.” During the session, we talked about how AI is changing our processes and which parts of the work we hold on to as designers. Since then, I’ve been reflecting on the parts of my process where AI used to give me noisy results, and what I’ve changed to steer it toward usable ones.

Reports and Presentations

Visual communication is a core skill for any designer (and any maker). As consultants, we synthesize and report on many parts of the process: research findings, new concepts, design decisions, and more. Those reports matter, but crafting a perfect presentation takes time, and not every step of the process needs one.

AI can help generate reports and presentations, but when I leave it undirected, the first pass is often a pile of slop. I get much better results when I start with an outline. I usually open a new…

Artificial Intelligence