For almost a decade, I’ve worked in product design, and for most of that time, I followed a process that probably looks familiar to many designers.

A brief would come in. I would try to understand the problem, research the users, map the journey, open Figma, and start designing. From there came prototypes, testing, iterations, design systems, and eventually, a product ready to ship.

It worked.

But over time, I realised that some of the most important design decisions happen before the first pixel is ever pushed.

The tools have changed. The industry has changed. And now, AI is changing something even more important: how we think through a design problem.

I’m Jibril Abdulkadir, a product designer with nearly a decade of experience, and this has made me rethink what the modern product design process should look like.

For me, it starts with thinking deeply before designing visually.

Phase 1: Define the Problem

Start With a Rough Brief

Before touching Figma, I start by putting the problem into words.

I capture the background, the business problem, the goals, the constraints and what we currently understand about the people involved. It doesn’t have to be perfect. A rough brief is simply a starting point for asking better questions.

The important thing is not to immediately jump from a request to a solution.

Identify the Real Business Problem

A design request is not always the real problem.

Someone might ask for a new dashboard when the real issue is poor product adoption. A team might ask for a redesigned website when the real objective is entering a new market. A request for a new feature might actually be an attempt to increase revenue or reduce churn.

So I ask: Why are we doing this?

What is the business trying to achieve? What outcome would make this project successful?

Understanding the business problem gives the design direction and prevents us from simply redesigning things because they look old.

Understand the Business, Customer and Consumer

This is particularly important when designing products that have more than one audience.

I think about the problem from three perspectives: the business, the customer and the consumer.

The business is the organisation behind the product. What are they trying to achieve? Are they trying to increase revenue, enter a new market, reduce costs, improve retention, or acquire larger accounts?

The customer is the commercial middleman between the business and the end consumer. This could be a wholesaler, retailer, distributor, partner, or another organisation that buys, sells or facilitates the product. What do they need to make their relationship with the business easier? What would help them buy more, sell more, operate more efficiently, or choose this business over another?

The consumer is the person who ultimately uses or experiences the product or service. What are they actually trying to accomplish? What problem brought them to the product? What are they looking for, and what might prevent them from completing their goal?

These three perspectives are connected, but they are not the same.

The business may want to increase revenue. The customer may need a simpler way to order and manage inventory. The consumer may simply want to find the right product quickly.

If you only design for one of them, you can solve one problem while creating another.

That is why understanding the entire ecosystem comes before designing the interface.

Phase 2: Use AI for the Deep Work

This is where I believe the modern design process starts to look different.

Once I have a rough understanding of the problem, I bring AI into the process.

Not to design the interface for me.

To challenge my thinking.

Spar With AI

I can take my brief and ask an AI tool to expand on it, identify assumptions, point out potential gaps, suggest questions I haven’t considered, or explore alternative ways of looking at the problem.

But I don’t simply take the output and use it.

I push back.

I challenge it. I ask follow-up questions. I provide more context. I tell it why I disagree and ask it to rethink its position.

That is where I think AI becomes genuinely useful.

The goal isn’t to get AI to think for you. The goal is to use AI to think more broadly and critically.

AI can give you possibilities, but the designer still needs to determine which possibilities make sense.

Quantify Everything You Can

I also try to put numbers behind my assumptions wherever possible.

Instead of saying, “Consumers are confused,” ask how many consumers are experiencing the problem.

Instead of saying, “The process is too long,” look at where people drop off.

Instead of saying, “This feature isn’t performing,” look at adoption, frequency of use, conversion or whatever metric actually matters.

Qualitative research helps explain why something is happening. Quantitative data helps us understand how much it is happening.

Both are important.

Give AI Real Context

One of the biggest limitations of AI is that it doesn’t automatically know your world.

It may understand product design, but it doesn’t know your internal data, your customers, your previous experiments, your business constraints or what your sales team has been hearing from the market.

So give it context.

Feed it relevant research, customer feedback, analytics, business objectives, support issues, existing product information and other useful material.

The difference between asking AI a generic design question and giving it real product context can be enormous.

AI provides the capability. Context makes it relevant. Human judgment makes it useful.

Phase 3: Competitive Analysis — Filter, Don’t Mimic

Once I understand the problem better, I look at how other products approach similar challenges.

But competitive analysis shouldn’t become an exercise in collecting beautiful screenshots.

Search for Solutions, Not Pictures

I usually want a small number of strong examples rather than dozens of random references.

If I’m solving a search problem, I want to see how other products handle search.

If I’m solving a trust problem, I want to understand how other products establish credibility.

If I’m designing for multiple locations, I want to understand how other products connect people, places and services.

The question isn’t, “What does their interface look like?”

It’s “What problem are they solving, and how are they solving it?”

Critique Your Findings

Don’t assume something is good simply because it comes from a successful product.

Break it apart.

Maybe the search chips are smart, but the filtering experience is confusing. Maybe the information hierarchy works well, but the interaction pattern feels outdated.

Take the useful part.

Discard the rest.

Competitive analysis should help you develop your own thinking, not replace it.

Filter. Don’t mimic.

Phase 4: Strategy Before Pixels

This is probably the biggest change in how I approach product design.

Before moving a single pixel, I want to understand the structure of the experience.

Focus on Hierarchy and Journey

What does the consumer need to know first?

What decision are they trying to make?

What information will give them confidence?

What should be prominent?

What can be removed?

What is the most important action?

These questions help establish the hierarchy before the interface exists.

Think About the Relationships

Sometimes the most important part of a product isn’t an individual feature. It’s the relationship between different pieces of information.

For example, in a service platform, the user might not simply be looking for a service. They might have a problem and be looking for the right person, in the right location, with the right credentials and availability.

That relationship should influence the experience.

Similarly, in a commerce product, the business, the retailer and the end consumer may all have different needs. The design needs to account for how those needs connect rather than treating each part as an isolated feature.

This is where product strategy becomes important.

Don’t just design screens. Design the relationship between the information, the people and the goals.

Collaborate Before You Commit

Don’t disappear into Figma and come back with a finished solution.

Share your thinking early.

Talk to product managers, engineers, researchers, sales teams and other people who understand the product from different perspectives.

Early collaboration can expose assumptions before they become expensive design decisions.

AI can help you explore possibilities, but the people around the product provide the real-world context that AI cannot replace.

Phase 5: Now Push the Pixels

After all of that, I finally open Figma.

Now I can start creating the wireframes, components, visual direction and prototypes.

The difference is that the interface isn’t driving the thinking.

The thinking is driving the interface.

I’m not designing a page because I think a particular layout looks nice. I’m designing it because it supports the business objective, makes sense for the customer, and helps the consumer accomplish what they came to do.

That’s when design becomes more than visual problem-solving.

It becomes product strategy expressed through an interface.

Phase 6: Test, Learn and Repeat

The process doesn’t end when the design ships.

A design is ultimately a hypothesis.

Once real people start using the product, we learn whether our assumptions were correct.

Look at the data. Listen to feedback. Observe behaviour. Identify where people struggle and where the experience succeeds.

Then go back to the process.

Maybe the original problem wasn’t understood correctly.

Maybe the customer behaves differently from what we expected.

Maybe the consumer’s needs have changed.

Maybe the business objective has shifted.

Good design thinking isn’t a straight line.

It’s a continuous cycle of understanding, questioning, designing, testing and learning.

AI can support that cycle, but it doesn’t replace it.

The Part of Design Education That Needs to Change

This is where I think the design industry has some catching up to do.

Many designers are still being taught UX and design thinking through a traditional process: research, personas, user journeys, wireframes, prototypes, usability testing and visual design.

These fundamentals remain important.

But AI is now part of the environment in which designers work.

We should be teaching designers how to use AI for research synthesis, ideation, exploration, critique, problem framing and analysis.

More importantly, we should teach them how to question AI, verify its output, provide context, recognise when it is wrong and understand when it shouldn’t be used.

AI literacy should become part of modern design education.

Not because AI replaces design fundamentals, but because knowing how to work with AI is becoming part of being a modern designer.

AI Should Be Part of the Hiring Conversation

I also believe AI proficiency should increasingly become a criterion when hiring product and UX designers.

That doesn’t mean every designer needs to become an AI engineer.

It means designers should demonstrate that they understand how to use modern tools to create more leverage.

Imagine two designers with similar experience and design skills.

One works entirely through a traditional process.

The other has the same design fundamentals but knows how to use AI to explore problems, challenge assumptions, analyse information, synthesise research and accelerate parts of the workflow.

The second designer isn’t automatically better.

But they may be more adaptable.

And in an industry changing this quickly, adaptability matters.

Designers Should Stop Hiding AI

There is another mindset we need to change.

Designers shouldn’t feel ashamed of using AI.

They shouldn’t feel the need to hide it from their teams, clients or employers.

We don’t hide that we use Figma. We don’t hide that we use design systems, analytics tools, prototyping software or research platforms.

AI is another tool.

What matters is how you use it.

If AI helped you explore an idea, say so. If it helped you analyse information, say so. If it helped you identify a blind spot, say so.

Using AI doesn’t make you less of a designer.

Blindly accepting what AI gives you does.

The designer still needs to understand the problem, question the output, apply experience and make the final decision.

That’s what makes the work yours.

The New Design Thinking

After nearly a decade in product design, I don’t think the future belongs to designers who can simply push pixels faster.

It belongs to designers who can understand problems more deeply, ask better questions and make better decisions.

The modern product design process is becoming less about immediately creating screens and more about what happens before those screens exist.

Define the problem.

Understand the business, customer and consumer.

Bring AI into the deep work.

Use data and real-world context.

Study competitors without copying them.

Build the strategy before the interface.

Collaborate early.

Then design.

Test.

Learn.

Repeat.

AI isn’t replacing the designer.

It’s changing what we can do as designers.

And I don’t think we should hide from that change.

We should embrace it, learn it, challenge it and use it responsibly.

Because the future isn’t AI versus designers.

The future belongs to designers who know how to combine human judgment, design thinking, experience and AI.

And perhaps the question we should be asking isn’t whether AI will replace designers.

It is:

“How much better can I become as a designer now that AI is part of my process?”

Introduction

In the fast-paced world of design, tight deadlines are a common occurrence. As designers, we often find ourselves under immense pressure to deliver exceptional work within limited time frames. While deadlines can be daunting, they can also serve as catalysts for unleashing our creativity and producing remarkable results. In this article, we explore strategies and mindset shifts that can help designers thrive creatively despite tight deadlines.

Embrace Constraints as Opportunities

Rather than viewing tight deadlines as restrictive, consider them as opportunities to unleash your creativity. Constraints force us to think outside the box, encouraging innovative solutions and pushing us to challenge conventional boundaries. Embrace the limitations of time and see them as a driving force to unlock new ideas and approaches.

Prioritize and Focus

When time is of the essence, it becomes crucial to prioritize tasks and focus on what truly matters. Start by identifying the core objectives and deliverables of the project. Break down the work into manageable chunks, and allocate time wisely to ensure the most critical aspects receive the attention they deserve. By maintaining focus and eliminating distractions, you can make the most of the available time.

Adopt Agile Workflows

Implementing agile workflows can significantly enhance productivity and creativity when facing tight deadlines. Agile methodologies, such as Scrum or Kanban, provide structure and flexibility, allowing teams to adapt quickly to changing requirements. Embrace iterative processes, regular feedback loops, and short sprints to ensure continuous progress and refinement.

Streamline the Design Process

To optimize efficiency and creativity, streamline your design process. Identify repetitive tasks or bottlenecks and explore ways to automate or simplify them. Leverage design systems, templates, and libraries of reusable assets to expedite your workflow. By eliminating unnecessary steps and optimizing your process, you can free up time for more innovative thinking.

Collaborate and Communicate

Effective collaboration and communication are key when time is limited. Engage in open dialogues with clients, stakeholders, and team members to align expectations and gain a clear understanding of project requirements. Collaborate closely with others to leverage their expertise and ideate collectively. By fostering a collaborative environment, you can tap into the collective creative potential and deliver exceptional results.

Embrace Rapid Prototyping

Rapid prototyping allows you to quickly visualize and iterate on your ideas. By creating tangible representations of your designs early on, you can gather valuable feedback and make informed decisions promptly. Rapid prototyping not only accelerates the design process but also encourages experimentation and out-of-the-box thinking.

Maintain a Positive Mindset

Lastly, maintain a positive mindset throughout the process. A positive attitude and belief in your abilities can fuel your creativity even under tight deadlines. Embrace the challenge, stay motivated, and remind yourself of past successes. By cultivating a positive mindset, you can approach tight deadlines with resilience and tap into your creative potential.

Conclusion

Tight deadlines may initially seem overwhelming, but they can spark a burst of creativity and innovation. By embracing constraints, prioritizing tasks, adopting agile workflows, streamlining processes, fostering collaboration, embracing rapid prototyping, and maintaining a positive mindset, designers can thrive creatively even under time pressure. Embrace the challenge, unleash your creativity, and create exceptional work that defies the constraints of time.

Introduction

When it comes to showcasing our skills as product designers, the traditional portfolio templates often confine our creativity and fail to capture the essence of our design journey. In this article, I share my personal experience in designing a remarkable product and how I broke free from the standardized portfolio format. Join me as we explore the power of storytelling, the successes of my collaborators, and the importance of designing a portfolio that reflects the uniqueness of our work.

The Story Begins

My journey as a product designer began with a vision — an idea that sparked my imagination and fueled my passion. From the initial concept to the final product, every step was infused with creativity, collaboration, and relentless pursuit of excellence. Along the way, I had the privilege of working with a remarkable team of individuals who played pivotal roles in bringing the product to life.

Collaborators and their Contributions

1. The Visionary Innovator: At the core of this project was a visionary innovator whose passion for solving real-world problems ignited the initial spark. Their deep understanding of user needs and relentless pursuit of innovation set the foundation for our design journey.
2. The User Researcher: To create a truly impactful product, we needed to empathize with our target users. The user researcher conducted in-depth interviews, surveys, and observations to gather valuable insights. Their findings guided our design decisions, ensuring our product catered precisely to the needs and desires of our audience.
3. The Prototyper Extraordinaire: Turning ideas into tangible prototypes requires a unique skill set. The prototyper extraordinaire in our team seamlessly transformed sketches and wireframes into interactive and visually compelling prototypes. Their attention to detail and technical expertise allowed us to iterate rapidly, refining our designs based on user feedback.
4. The Visual Storyteller: Visual aesthetics are integral to a compelling product design. The visual storyteller on our team meticulously crafted a cohesive and visually captivating experience, bringing our product to life through stunning visuals and compelling narratives. Their mastery of color, typography, and layout elevated the overall impact of our portfolio.
5. The Agile Project Manager: Behind every successful product lies an exceptional project manager who ensures seamless coordination and timely delivery. Our agile project manager skillfully orchestrated the team’s efforts, keeping us focused, motivated, and aligned with project milestones. Their ability to navigate tight deadlines and adapt to evolving requirements ensured our project’s success.

The Unique Portfolio Narrative

As I embarked on showcasing our product design journey, I realized that a standardized portfolio template couldn’t capture the depth of our story. Instead, I embraced the power of storytelling. Through a combination of engaging narratives, visual storytelling, and immersive case studies, I created a portfolio that showcased not only the final product but also the unique journey of its creation.

Each portfolio section was carefully crafted to highlight the successes and contributions of each collaborator. It was not just a collection of static images or descriptions but a dynamic and interactive experience that captured the essence of our teamwork, creative problem-solving, and the impact our product had on users’ lives.

Breaking Free from Convention

By breaking free from the constraints of standardized portfolio templates, I was able to present a compelling narrative that reflected the uniqueness of our design journey. The portfolio became an immersive experience that showcased not only my individual skills as a designer but also the collective brilliance and collaboration of the entire team.

Conclusion

Designing a product and creating a portfolio that truly reflects our journey requires breaking free from traditional templates and embracing the power of storytelling. By showcasing the unique contributions of our collaborators, sharing successes, and crafting an immersive narrative, we can captivate and engage potential employers, clients, and peers. Let us embrace the freedom to design our portfolios as reflections of our creativity, innovation, and the remarkable stories

Introduction

Designing products and services that are tailored to the unique demands and preferences of the aging population is a unique challenge and opportunity for the design community as the global population continues to age. The design sector is essential to meeting the needs of Nigeria’s aging population because the nation is facing demographic changes. In this article, the importance of designing for Nigeria’s aging population is examined, along with some important considerations for designers here.

Nigeria’s Aging Population

Like many other nations, Nigeria is experiencing a large rise in the population of elderly individuals. Life expectancy has increased as a result of factors like better healthcare, better housing conditions, and advances in medical science. The National Population Commission predicts that by 2050, the percentage of Nigerians 60 and over would have doubled. With this transition in the population, it is essential that Nigerian designers concentrate on making products that meet the specific demands of senior citizens.

Understanding Older Adults’ Needs

A thorough awareness of the physical, cognitive, and emotional requirements of the aging population is necessary when designing for them. Designers in Nigeria must take into account the unique difficulties older individuals encounter here. This covers elements including common health issues, cultural norms, and socioeconomic inequities. Designers should interview senior citizens and do in-depth research to understand their preferences, constraints, and objectives.

Promoting safety and independence

Promoting independence and safety is one of the main objectives of designing for older individuals. Designers should take into account the function of products in fostering intergenerational interactions and preserving social ties in Nigeria, where multigenerational households are prevalent. This can include everything from building technology-enabled communication platforms that span the physical distance between family members to designing ergonomic furniture.

Healthcare and Accessibility Issues

When building for Nigeria’s aging population, accessibility and access to high-quality healthcare are essential considerations. Designers might concentrate on developing products that facilitate medication management, monitor vital signs, and enhance healthcare delivery. Additionally, ensuring that older persons can access public areas, transportation, and computer interfaces can significantly improve their quality of life.

Using intuitive interfaces while integrating technology

In order to meet the requirements of older persons, technology is crucial. Nigerian designers ought to look into how technology may be incorporated into products to improve the daily life of senior citizens. This includes assistive technologies that cater to various abilities and make complex jobs simpler, as well as smart user interfaces and voice-controlled gadgets.

Design collaboration and empathy

Collaboration and compassion are essential when designing for Nigeria’s elderly population. Designers should actively incorporate senior citizens in the design process by soliciting their input and taking their observations into consideration. Additionally, working together with gerontologists, healthcare experts, and lawmakers can offer insightful viewpoints and guarantee a comprehensive approach to designing for older persons.

Conclusion

Nigeria’s aging population offers an opportunity to improve older people’s lives and contribute to society’s general well-being. Designers may develop inclusive and empowering products that support independence, safety, and a sense of connection by having a thorough grasp of the unique requirements, preferences, and difficulties older persons in Nigeria encounter. Designers may make a significant contribution to meeting the changing requirements of the aging population and shaping a more inclusive future for all by demonstrating empathy, working collaboratively, and a dedication to the particular context of Nigeria.