AI as an accelerant, not a replacement for judgment.

The role of AI in a serious research and design practice.

AI has changed the economics of UX work. Tasks that used to consume days (transcript coding, competitor teardowns, first-pass concept exploration) can now happen in hours. That changes what's possible, but it doesn't change what's true. The craft is still in framing the right question, recognizing weak signal, and translating insight into design direction the team can actually act on.

I treat AI as a force multiplier on the practitioner. I use it heavily where it shortens the distance between data and decision, and I keep it out of the places where human judgment, lived context, or stakeholder trust are the actual deliverable.

Research workflows AI accelerates.

• Transcript synthesis & affinity mapping: LLM-assisted first-pass coding of interview transcripts, surfacing candidate themes and quote clusters for human review, cutting synthesis time without losing nuance.
• Competitive & landscape scans: Structured prompts that compare flows, IA patterns, content strategies, and accessibility posture across competitors at speed, with cited sources for verification.
• Survey design & analysis: AI-assisted draft generation, bias auditing of question wording, and rapid cluster analysis of open-ended responses.
• Secondary research synthesis: Pulling signal from analytics reports, support tickets, app store reviews, and industry research into a single behavioral picture.
• Persona and JTBD drafts: AI-generated first drafts that the practitioner pressure-tests against actual research data, allowing faster iteration on shared mental models.

Design workflows AI accelerates.

• Generative concepting: Rapid divergent exploration of layout, IA, and interaction approaches, used as raw material for human-led decision-making.
• Content strategy at scale: AI-drafted UX copy, microcopy variants, and content audits across hundreds of templates, reviewed and refined for voice and accuracy.
• Wireframe and prototype acceleration: AI-assisted scaffolding of low- and mid-fidelity flows, freeing time for the parts of the design that need real craft.
• Accessibility & heuristic checks: AI-augmented first-pass reviews against WCAG and established heuristics, prioritizing issues for human expert review.
• Stakeholder communication: Tailoring the same insight to multiple audiences (exec summary, design brief, engineering spec) without diluting the substance.

What AI doesn't replace.

AI does not replace talking to users. It does not replace the judgment of an experienced practitioner reading a room. It does not replace stakeholder alignment, the political work of shipping good design inside a real organization, or accountability for the recommendation. Anything AI produces is treated as a draft: cited, verified, and revised before it leaves my desk.

Bring me in when you need…

• A research or design practice that's using AI thoughtfully rather than reflexively
• Faster synthesis cycles on qualitative research without sacrificing rigor
• Accelerated competitive and landscape understanding before a major investment
• A leader who can set guardrails for an AI-augmented design team and bring the rest of the org along