Il Lavoro del Designer Non Sarà Più lo Stesso

Summary

The video explores how AI is changing the work of product designers through an interview with Massimiliano Bolognesi (“Max”), a designer at JetHR. JetHR builds software to help companies manage staff, including payroll, shifts, holidays, and leave.

What Product Designers Do

Product designers identify user needs and turn them into product flows and interfaces. Their work involves research and iteration, as well as coordination with engineering and business teams. Producing a usable, secure product takes more than designing screens.

How AI Has Changed the Workflow

Instead of starting every idea in Figma, Max can use AI coding agents to create interactive prototypes or work directly in a copy of the product’s codebase. Teams can test ideas with users sooner, and designers are working more closely with developers. Max says this has increased delivery speed and productivity.

Live Demonstration

Using a coding assistant connected to JetHR’s codebase and design-system resources, Max describes a feature by voice: a conditional referral field in J Studio that triggers a confetti animation. The agent generates the change, which they then test in the product. Max says he has also used AI tools to build more substantial parts of a WhatsApp chat integration.

Codebases, Design Systems, and AI Skills

The codebase is presented as the product’s source of truth. The agent can refer to existing components, colors, fonts, and other design rules. JetHR is also developing shared “skills”—sets of instructions that help agents and team members carry out tasks consistently.

Managing AI Work and Cost

Agents can perform tasks in parallel, but people need to manage prompts and review the results. The interview also discusses tracking token use and reserving more capable, more expensive models for difficult tasks.

The Possible Future of Interfaces

With AI agents able to operate software on a user’s behalf, some interfaces may become less visible to people and more oriented toward agents. The speakers describe this as a possible direction, not a complete replacement for human-facing interfaces.

What AI Still Struggles With

Max emphasizes the importance of product vision, understanding people’s needs, identifying opportunities, and supplying the context AI needs. He also points to the complexity of Italian bureaucracy as an area where human input remains important.

Advice for Future Designers

Max recommends learning to use AI tools, staying curious about new developments, and building broad product skills through hands-on projects. He expects more “builder” roles that span research, design, and development rather than narrowly specialized roles.

Additional Context

The episode also promotes Talent Garden’s part-time courses in AI for digital product design and generative AI for creativity. There is no formal product review or standalone tutorial; the practical, guide-like element is the live AI coding demonstration.

Main speakers: Marcello Ascani, host; Massimiliano Bolognesi (“Max”), product designer at JetHR.