What Happens to Design After AI?

2026-06-24 · Source: The a16z Show · Field: Technology & Digital — Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning, Software Development & Engineering, Emerging Technologies & Innovation · Depth: Intermediate, extended

Summary

Microsoft VP of Design John Maeda and Impeccable founder Paul Bakaus discuss AI's transformative impact on design practice. They explore how AI-powered creative tools, like Bakaus's open-source Impeccable, are automating routine design tasks, effectively "raising the floor" of design quality. Impeccable, integrated with GitHub Copilot app, uses a specialized vocabulary to improve AI output, akin to Kai's Power Tools or Postscript for design. The conversation highlights the shift from UX to "agentic experience" (AX), where designers focus on non-visual affordances for AI agents. While AI commoditizes basic design, it elevates the value of human taste, judgment, and unique craft, particularly for the remaining 10-20% of high-level creative decisions.

Key takeaway

For AI Product Managers and Product Designers aiming to differentiate their offerings, recognize that AI tools like Impeccable are commoditizing basic design. Focus your team's unique human talent on the 10-20% of design that requires true taste, conviction, and bespoke craft to achieve a "global maximum" experience. Explore designing for "agentic experience" (AX) to shape how AI agents interact, ensuring your products stand out beyond generic AI-generated aesthetics.

Key insights

AI automates design's mechanical aspects, elevating human taste and judgment for unique, high-level creative decisions.

Principles

• Design quality "floor" is rising due to AI.
• Taste emerges through scarcity, not abundant materials.
• Leaders with conviction drive global maximum bets.

Method

Impeccable uses a specialized design vocabulary, a quality layer, and a visual iteration mode to steer AI models, preventing generic "AI tells" and promoting uniqueness.

In practice

• Use specialized vocabulary when prompting LLMs for design.
• Focus human effort on the "last 10-20%" of unique craft.
• Explore "agentic experience" (AX) design for AI interfaces.

Topics

• AI in Design
• Design Automation
• Agentic Experience
• Impeccable
• GitHub Copilot App
• Computational Design
• User Experience

Best for: Product Manager, Product Designer, AI Engineer, AI Product Manager

Related on AIssential

• AI can Replace Designer — AI's rapid advancement and capital requirements will displace mediocre designers and democratize design execution.
• AI Didn’t Kill Design—It Exposed It — AI reveals how product design often prioritizes corporate incentives over genuine user needs.
• Code Is Free Now. Taste Isn't — Agentic coding collapses implementation costs, shifting software development focus to taste, communication, and verification.
• AI and the New Renaissance of Art and Design — New technologies, like AI, transform creative fields by liberating human expression rather than destroying existing practices.
• 🔵 Claude Code to Figma and the new era of Product Taste — Product taste and context curation are emerging as critical differentiators in an AI-driven product development landscape.
• Anthropic Makes TIME Cover — AI tools are rapidly democratizing creative and professional tasks, accelerating innovation across industries.

Open in AIssential →

Editorial summary, takeaway, and curation by AIssential. Original article published by The a16z Show.