why now is the best time to be a designer (from an MIT designer/researcher)

Real human, valuable conversation. A breath of fresh air. 💯

The one thing new designers never seem to grasp is that clients don't want your ideas! You don't make it far in his field by trying to do good work.

Love your take and the authenticity you're bringing into the conversation of AI in regards to design! I'm early in my UX design career, and honestly, despite how tough it is in the market for us, it's pretty exciting to gain more access to knowledge and understand how we should retackle and successfully integrate AI into any sort of product creation. I think the key is to really understand the core problem(s) from both perspectives of the business and the users, get stakeholders' perspectives, and find a way to bridge the gap through AI. It's also pretty scary how increasingly fast it's been growing, especially in areas where AI can be abused unethically and/or with no intention, which makes digital and AI literacy very important in every field. Anyway, I appreciate you for sharing your insights and best of luck with MIT (:

Yall in school still lets see if you change ur mind once u hit the job market LMAO

This is the first video I watched and you talked about design—that's why I subscribed. I liked your video because it's authentic with no unnecessary content no excessive transitions—just a simple video with an original voice

interesting and articulate take, subbed

I agree with a lot of the points you mentioned! Currently a rising senior in design, and I love it so much. Upskilling is both rewarding but can also lead to fatigue imo, and I feel like another aspect is just how many programs/tools designers are expected to know. While foundational skills like design thinking, visual storytelling, and core visual principles remain consistent and transferable, each new tool, whether it’s Adobe CC, Figma, 3D modeling, TouchDesigner, coding platforms, VR/AR environments, AI-based tools, etc. etc, comes with its own steep learning curve, time investment, and financial cost. And these tools are always updating, and sometimes in ways that don’t necessarily prioritize the needs of a designer’s workflow. I'm honestly just a hater on subscription models.

I guess the question is whether you should be an engineer with design skills or a designer with engineering skills

subscribed

Lovely, as an "AI engineer" your take is really nuanced and I love that, I'll experiment with developing Creative/Design thinking and also tinkering with creating an Agent for Creativity(based on research ofc)!

Great video! Very professional. I’m a college student studying graphic design, so this feels super relatable.

My hunch is that generalists who know how to execute tasks quickly will thrive, and designers are mostly the kind of people who fit this role perfectly

This is a bit off topic, but I’m genuinely curious, how do you guys express your ideas so smoothly? English is my second language, and I’d love to learn!

so glad to have found your channel – i needed to hear these things from someone else

Good Stuff Brother🤝

love all the real talk!

Is this a part of my echochamber or

Man it’s such a weird space in time. Design already had a hard time being heard at the table and with ai so many leaders are using it as excuse to cut teams, you’re right that right now all ai does is spit out the same derivative crap that’s out there (and not even the good stuff) I hope the time comes when leaders realize having a trained designer brings so much more ingenuity

shhh dont tell em

Great analysis - subbed. Systems thinking from a designers perspective 👍🏻

I love your narration about design roles. It's something that I have been struggling a bit to explain people that we are doing 😆

Such a refreshing perspective!

Hi, I'm a high school student from Vietnam. Thanks that I found out your channel. Could you do more video to guide beginner or how to learn design like UI/UX from scratch? It would be so helpful if you can share timeline stuff or free resources. Thank you for your time!

Thanks for sharing David! Already hit subscribed👍

this was some of the most valuable information ive seen that appies sooooo incredibly specifically to y lfe its actually inanse. I grately appreciate you, also im in the process of reinvienting myself in the recession hoping to come out strong

I am just curious if MIT is already using AGI, not to mention multidisciplinary AI agents working together there

best time to learn a trade

Your profile picture deceptively made me click on your video. Good job making it like a notification dot 😂

I’m a software engineering student and your perspective is really refreshing and reassuring. I feel like I have amassed all this technical knowledge throughout college yet still lack a creative outlet for it. It’s like I know how things are built but lack ‘empathy’ skills, as in how do I create something that brings value to others. That’s how I’ve found myself interested in design and it’s cool to know I have already gone through the tough path of gaining technical knowledge. Now I need to get more acquainted with what a good designer does and how to leverage my background into something that can hopefully pay the bills while also being fulfilling enough 😅

Loved the video and looking forward to exploring more of your content!

can you please make a video on how you got got into MIT as a researcher? like basically tips on application + maybe sharing your own Personal statement and stats too? that would be so helpful, david. (plus, amazing video! keep up the authentic work :3)

I'm assuming you know the architecture machine since you are from MIT AND you are an architect!

im delving into ui/ux design atm because ive been really interested in it since 2023. only got the guts to genuinely pursue it now

agree and resonate with a lot of your experiences here as a postgrad designer in Sydney. the first time I used ChatGPT I thought damn this fills a huge void I had with coding I can finally get closer to develop my own designs and start a software company. GPT is my second brain I can offload thinking to.

Hey David!!! Loving this content!!

I dream of entering medicine but design is my hobby and I’m damn good at it. I can’t decide anymore

engineering student who added humanities as a double major, then design as a minor. best decision i've made so far !! this was really helpful to me, actually, really inspired me to get a little more into it, even without AI (though that was a big part of the video). humanity is what makes art great :>

Dope!

I like — I mean love — your pov

why are you studying architecture if you are wanna be a designer? this lowers your credibility...

I loved this! From a designer at heart who didn’t specialize it in school, it made my heart sing. Looking forward to more design videos in the future and thoughts on pursuing design at MIT 👀

Congrats on the channel. It might be picking up since I ended up here!
After teaching yoga for years, I am completely reinventing myself as a UX designer. The more I get into it, the more I realize how complex it is and there is so much more to learn. I have been thinking a lot on how AI will shift things and it makes me hopeful and happy to see people still care for things that are human and authentic. I also really hear the design thinking in most your monologue conversations haha : ) which is really helpful ! so thanks

I agree everything you said! I just passed and will study industrial design to the #1 univ here in my country (southeast asia). Dissapointed by the reality especially on the /industrialdesign subreddit where the market for designers are too saturated or you will never get money into it. But your insights showed that we have the means to think not just a designer---but also other professional fields like engineering, tech developer, medicine, etc.

AND I LOVE the fact that people need new innovations, new ideas, and as designers can make that possible especially that we are transitioning to the digital age (less costly than traditional of course). I took a business track instead of STEM in Senior High School and it shows that we also need to learn the surface level of the business field. I also had a wide range of communication skills and knows how to write formal papers so transitioning to design for college is A HUGE STEP FOR ME in my artistic side. I am planning to learn coding while studying and this video helped me alot on what the future brings. I believe (hopefully) designers are in the rise in the near future! considering how graphic design are not widely recognized in the 90's tend to have higher pay than other professionals. So its definitely possible.

Thanks for nothing mr MIT guy

I agree completely. I have a masters in engineering but I work in the creative field now and I feel like my technical knowledge totally helps

Really good video, thanks man!
The possibilities with AI for designers are insane.

Dreamer --- > Creator

Great stuff! Cheers from a Polish design student 👏

do you think is it possible to do this repositioning being a mid-junior?

I studied computer science and focused on UX/UI which led to 4 years of product management. Understanding design and tech enough to make decisions has been valuable to my work, but sometimes I get stuck with how overwhelming all the inputs are, and I think this is where I can utilize AI as you mentioned. Thank you for this video :)
I didnt know MIT makes and effort to collaborate different disciplines, as an artist myself, makes me wanna look it up