Life After UI

Stan Swiatkiewicz
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  • Design
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The Life After UI podcast explores how artificial intelligence is changing the way designers work. In each episode we talk with designers who are already using AI in their daily workflows. We focus on real processes, real tools, and real experiences from people building products today. You'll hear how designers are integrating AI into their workflow, how it changes the design process, and what skills will matter most in the next generation of design. If you're a designer curious about how AI is transforming the industry - you're in the right place.

Episodes

  1. How Designers Use A/B Testing to Drive Revenue | Nikhil Singh — Senior Product Designer @ Adobe

    21h ago

    How Designers Use A/B Testing to Drive Revenue | Nikhil Singh — Senior Product Designer @ Adobe

    What happens when a product designer stops guessing — and starts using data, A/B testing, and AI to drive real business revenue? In this episode, host Stan sits down with Nikhil Singh, Senior Product Designer at Adobe's Product Cloud (the powerhouse behind Acrobat, Sign, and Document Cloud), to tackle one of the most underrated yet critical skills in modern product design: how to leverage data and experimentation to make better choices and earn a powerful voice in strategic conversations. Nikhil shares his rare perspective on working at the intersection of design craft and data infrastructure inside one of the world's largest software companies. He breaks down how he structures research at Adobe, combining qualitative insights with quantitative data, and explains why research-backed hypotheses are fundamentally 4× more likely to succeed in A/B tests. They dive into the mechanics of his 35% team success rate improvement, mapping out the full experiment pipeline from backlog management to sequencing multi-challenger tests across quarters. They also take an honest look at the under-the-radar tool stack — including heatmaps, zoning analysis, and scroll depth — and unpack how AI is actively changing the workflow. From using AI to form and structure hypotheses to analyzing heavy quantitative data, Nikhil shares his take on whether traditional dashboards will soon be completely replaced by AI chat interfaces, and where human nuance remains entirely irreplaceable. Beyond the metrics, this conversation turns into a masterclass on career growth in the AI era. Nikhil and Stan discuss how to align design decisions with business metrics like ARR and monetization, how the UX field is evolving, and why clarity beats cleverness every single time when building a standout design portfolio that catches a recruiter's eye in the first 60 seconds. Life After UI is a podcast about how artificial intelligence is changing the way designers work, build, and think. New episodes every week. 🔗 Nikhil Singh on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nikhilsingh010/

    1h 2m
  2. Designers Are Becoming Developer-Lite | Kei Huynh — Product Designer @ Shopify

    Jun 4

    Designers Are Becoming Developer-Lite | Kei Huynh — Product Designer @ Shopify

    What happens when a product designer at Shopify starts pushing code to production, navigating the terminal, and blurring the line between pixels and code? In this episode, host Stan sits down with Kei Huynh, Product Designer working on design and growth at Shopify, to tackle one of the most pressing questions in the industry right now: what actually happens to the design profession when AI removes the friction between design and development? Kei shares her firsthand experience of venturing deep into developer territory at one of the world's biggest product companies — from opening the terminal and drafting PRs to shipping live UI fixes directly alongside engineering teams. She breaks down how her daily workflow has shifted, how she leverages AI to supercharge and synthesize UX research at scale, and why becoming a "developer-lite designer" might just be the new industry standard. They also dive into an honest critique of the current AI design stack, reflecting on the hidden traps of AI-assisted speed. Kei explains why it's so easy to get caught up in over-building prototypes, when AI actually saves you hours versus when it costs you more time, and why AI makes it incredibly easy to generate mediocre work — while taking a product from mediocre to great remains a strictly human job. Beyond the tools, this conversation turns into a practical guide for navigating a design career in 2026. Kei and Stan discuss why having a strong personal opinion and refined taste matters more than ever today, how to approach portfolio building in the AI era, and why the ultimate professional edge is knowing how to use AI as raw material without losing your unique creative identity. Life After UI is a podcast about how artificial intelligence is changing the way designers work, build, and think. New episodes every week. 🔗 Kei Huynh on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/keihuynh/

    54 min
  3. Designers Are Now Talking to APIs | Matt Meurer — Staff Product Designer @Shopify

    May 31

    Designers Are Now Talking to APIs | Matt Meurer — Staff Product Designer @Shopify

    What happens when a Staff Product Designer at Shopify starts pushing code to production — and giving junior designers the green light to do the same? In this bonus episode, host Stan sits down with Matt Meurer, Staff Product Designer at Shopify, for a conversation that goes deep into the real, day-to-day reality of working with AI at enterprise scale. Matt shares how his workflow has evolved around Claude Code in the terminal, combined with tools like Ghosty and Whisper, why he believes no single AI product has fully “won” yet, and how Shopify built an internal Admin Playground — a coding environment pre-loaded with the Polaris design system and live API access — so designers can focus on building instead of setup. The conversation also turns into one of the most important career discussions on the podcast so far: what actually separates a junior designer from a mid-level, a senior from a staff, in a world where everyone suddenly has access to the same AI tools. Matt breaks down how expectations change at every level, why junior designers may have an unexpected advantage in adapting to AI-native workflows, and why product judgment, systems thinking, and communication are becoming more valuable than execution alone. They also go deep on a shift that very few people are talking about: designers are no longer just designing interfaces — they are increasingly shaping APIs, workflows, data structures, and the behavior of entire systems. That’s not just a workflow shift. It’s a profession shift. Life After UI is a podcast about how artificial intelligence is changing the way designers work, build, and think. New episodes every week. 🔗 Matt Meurer on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mattmeurer/

    1h 5m
  4. The Future of Product Design Is Already Here? | Maya Brennan — Lead Product Designer @Amplitude

    May 21

    The Future of Product Design Is Already Here? | Maya Brennan — Lead Product Designer @Amplitude

    What if the future of product design is not about interfaces anymore — but about interaction, motion, and AI-native experiences? In this episode, we sit down with Maya Brennan, Lead Product Designer at Amplitude and former Accenture designer, who’s rethinking where product design is heading in the age of AI — from multimodal interfaces to motion-driven experiences and entirely new ways of building products. Maya walks us through her viral predictions about the future of design, why the classic chat interface is already evolving, how AI is reshaping interaction design, and why boring B2B software is finally disappearing. We also get into vibe coding, the rise of designer-founders, why designers who can ship products have a huge advantage today, and how portfolios need to evolve in one of the toughest product design markets in years. We close on a topic that doesn’t get discussed enough: how AI is changing not just tools, but the expectations around creativity, craft, motion, and the future role of designers themselves. 🔗 Maya Brennan on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maya-brennan/

    58 min
  5. Is Design Dead in the Age of AI? | Anna Arteeva — Product Design Leader & AI Educator @Maven

    May 7

    Is Design Dead in the Age of AI? | Anna Arteeva — Product Design Leader & AI Educator @Maven

    In this episode, we sit down with Anna Arteeva, Product Design Leader and AI educator, who’s rethinking what it means to be a designer in the age of AI — one where building matters more than polishing pixels. Anna walks us through how designers are shifting from traditional workflows toward vibe coding, how component libraries like shadcn fit into this new way of working, and why starting in Figma might actually slow you down. We also get into a real case study from one of her trainings, where a product manager built a fully functional app with a database and dynamic map — while designers in the same room were still focused on making things look on-brand. We close on a topic that doesn’t get discussed enough: how the role of designers is evolving, what “Design Engineer” really means, and how technical designers actually need to become to stay relevant. 🔗Anna Arteeva on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/annaarteeva/ 🔗 Anna Arteeva on Maven: https://maven.com/anna-arteeva

    1 hr
  6. Is Claude Design Actually Worth It? | Nick Babich | Editor In Chief @UX Planet

    Apr 30

    Is Claude Design Actually Worth It? | Nick Babich | Editor In Chief @UX Planet

    In this episode, we sit down with Nick Babich — Product Designer and one of the most widely read design writers on Medium — to break down one of the most talked-about tools right now: Claude Design. We explore what Claude Design actually is, how it compares to Claude Code, and where it fits in a real design workflow. Nick shares his perspective on when it’s useful, when it’s not — and why token limits might be the biggest blocker for adoption. We also dive into his framework of AI fluency for designers, what separates beginners from advanced users, and why many designers are still stuck using AI at a very surface level. Beyond tools, we talk about the bigger shift happening in design — from traditional workflows to faster, more experimental, AI-driven ways of building. Including when it makes sense to move from design to code, and how designers should approach learning new tools today. 🔗Nick Babich on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nbabich/ 🔗 Nick Babich on Medium: https://medium.com/@101

    1h 3m
  7. Design Systems Have a Conversational Layer Now | Patricia Yu – Senior Experience Designer @Adobe

    Apr 23

    Design Systems Have a Conversational Layer Now | Patricia Yu – Senior Experience Designer @Adobe

    In this episode, we sit down with Patricia Yu, Senior Product Designer at Adobe, who's thinking about design systems in a way most designers haven't considered yet — one that includes conversational guidelines for AI interactions, not just visual tokens and components. Patricia walks us through the triple diamond design process she uses at Adobe, how enterprise design systems are evolving from Figma-based component libraries toward something closer to vibe coding systems, and what it looks like when a large company starts encoding brand voice and conversation rules into the tools their teams use daily. We also get into her honest take on Claude Code vs Cursor — why she's making the switch, what she still appreciates about Cursor, and how she's been experimenting with the Figma MCP + Claude workflow on personal projects despite enterprise privacy restrictions. We close on a topic that doesn't get discussed enough: the pace difference between startups and enterprise when it comes to AI adoption. Patricia makes the case that large orgs are closer than you think — they're just watching, learning, and moving deliberately. 🔗 Patricia Yu on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/patriciayu00/🔗 Adobe: https://www.adobe.com

    1h 7m
  8. AI Won't Make You 10x Faster | Mahta Moattari - Senior Product Designer @Shopify

    Apr 14

    AI Won't Make You 10x Faster | Mahta Moattari - Senior Product Designer @Shopify

    In this episode, we sit down with Mahta Moattari, Senior Product Designer with experience at Shopify, who still starts every design project with pen and paper — even in the age of AI.Mahta walks us through what it's like going from Shopify's structured design team to a fast-moving startup, and how her process has evolved along the way. We explore how she uses AI tools like Cursor and Claude not for ideation or design thinking, but for communication — articulating ideas, summarizing thoughts, and bridging the gap between messy thinking and clear output. She shares why vibe coding works only after you have something solid in Figma, how design systems make AI-assisted workflows actually viable, and why she believes AI won't make designers 10 times faster.We also get into the creative side — the connection between music and design, lateral thinking, learning by doing, and why the best ideas still come from a pen, a piece of paper, and a quiet room.🔗 Mahta Moattari on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mahtamoattari/🔗 Shopify: https://www.shopify.com

    59 min
  9. Figma Is Now My Last Step, Not My First | Javan Wang - Senior Product Designer at Shopify

    Apr 2

    Figma Is Now My Last Step, Not My First | Javan Wang - Senior Product Designer at Shopify

    In this episode, we sit down with Javan Wang, Senior Product Designer at Shopify, who's flipped the traditional design workflow on its head - Figma is now his last step, not his first. Javan walks us through how he uses Claude, Cursor, and v0 to handle ideation, problem synthesis, and prototyping before ever touching Figma. We explore how Shopify's design system becomes the bridge between AI-generated prototypes and production code, why canvas-based tools like v0 feel different from chat-based tools like Cursor, and the specific moments where Figma still can't be replaced - custom icons, gaming assets with gradients and texture, and pixel-level detail work. 🔗 Javan Wang on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/javan-wang/🔗 Shopify: https://www.shopify.com

    1h 3m
  10. How AI is changing the way designers work? | Christina Yang - Senior Product Designer at Descript

    Mar 26

    How AI is changing the way designers work? | Christina Yang - Senior Product Designer at Descript

    How is AI actually changing the daily workflow of product designers in 2025? In this episode, Christina Yang - Senior Product Designer at Descript - shares how her team is shipping AI-powered features, why Figma is being pushed to the fringes of the design process, and what it means when designers start submitting pull requests. We dive deep into the real tools and workflows Christina uses daily - from Claude and Cursor for ideation and prototyping, to handling Git and pull requests as a designer. We also discuss the shift from T-shaped to comb-shaped skill profiles, systems thinking vs. design thinking, and how small teams at companies like Descript are outpacing larger orgs. Whether you're a product designer navigating AI tools, a design leader rethinking team structure, or just curious about where the design profession is heading - this conversation is packed with practical insights. Check Christina's LinkedIn profile 👉 HERE

    53 min
  • 10 Episodes

About

The Life After UI podcast explores how artificial intelligence is changing the way designers work. In each episode we talk with designers who are already using AI in their daily workflows. We focus on real processes, real tools, and real experiences from people building products today. You'll hear how designers are integrating AI into their workflow, how it changes the design process, and what skills will matter most in the next generation of design. If you're a designer curious about how AI is transforming the industry - you're in the right place.

Information

  • Creator
    Stan Swiatkiewicz
  • Years Active
    2K
  • Episodes
    10
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Stan Swiatkiewicz
  • Show Website
    Life After UI