AI-artificial intelligence- refers to a branch of computer science which tries to simulate human intelligence with computers. Even though it’s still in its infancy, it has been gaining huge amounts of popularity already. It is a versatile tool with many applications including the field of UI/UX design too.
The reason for AI being an amazing tool is its ability to analyze vast amounts of data. AI can self-learn, recognize patterns and human languages. This allows it to work faster and more efficiently than humans. This creates time for humans to create new things and focus on the soft skilled areas. /Personalization is a key tool of UX design to keep the users satisfied. AI can analyze millions of data points which include audio visual objects, texts, searches etc.. It can trace users’ general behavior, patterns and preferences. Based on all of this information, it further makes connections between all the searches and preferences to create a personalized feed and predict users needs. This allows it to make the first step and satisfy users’ needs before they even know about them. FOr example, our instagram feed has all the content that we like to watch. The algorithm sees our likes, comments, searches and activity to predict what we’d like to watch next or see something new. The same way, Pinterest creates us an aesthetic feed full of pictures that connect back to our previous activity. Not only this, google and our texting keyboard uses AI to autocomplete what we were saying. All of this is AI in our daily lives for UX design.
Secondly, through NLP(Natural Language Processing), accessibility of the web can be increased. NLP enables computers to interpret, manipulate and understand human languages. Designing softwares which utilizes this technology is a huge step for people with disabilities. For example, screen readers help people with visual impairment as it reads aloud all the content on the screen. Speech to text is extremely useful for people with reading and writing impairment. For example, Giphy teamed up with Scribley(assistive tool provider to make images,videos and audios accessible to humans) and used alt text to make gifs and memes accessible by screen readers. NLP also helps in reducing the language barrier as it is used for making translatory tools. Using AI, we can connect more people online and create a digital environment which is accessible by everyone.
Also, AI can streamline the process of enhancing the look and feel of software. Using machine learning, AI can generate customized layouts, color palettes, fonts and images. It can also automate certain aspects of the design process. For example, Adobe Sensei makes designing easier. It entails features like content aware fill in photoshop, photo tagging in lightroom, auto tagging of assets and much more.
Now, as a designer, you need to test the working of your software and how it appeals to the user. Well, AI is a vital part of that process too. In A/B testing, AI creates two variants of the same software, one is A and the other is B. A is the current version and B is the variant. AI compares the two versions based on the designers’ preferences to determine which one performs better.This process helps designers to make changes to their software. AI’s predictions and analyzing ability also gives good user insights which is also used for enhancing the UX/UI design.
All in all, equipping AI tools in the UX/UI designing can elevate your software. AI doesn’t remove human necessity in the project, rather helps you build a software that matches your vision and keeps the users happy.