AI: A New Form of Storytelling or a Productivity Tool?
AI-driven design is an idea that we have been hearing about for years. However, what does it really mean in designers' and researchers' everyday lives beyond image generation?
I explored the Dell Design Library as a starting point to address this question. The AI functionality of the Dell Design Library provides a new way for our designers and researchers to share and benefit from each other's work, allowing them to easily synthesize documents stored in the library and gain new insights for their projects.
I realized it's not the quantity of research stored, but how effectively it is used. Therefore, my goal is to encourage designers and researchers to frequently utilize each other's research outcomes in meaningful ways that genuinely support their work with the help of AI.
Frustrations in Existing Workflow
I started conducting interviews with designers to audit the AI applications currently in use, like ChatGPT Claude, Copilot and the pain points when using Design Library platform. Through this process, I identified two primary issues affecting their workflow:
Hallucination makes AI-generated outcomes hard to trust.
Users become frustrated because they cannot distinguish between information improvised by the Large Language Model and validated information.
Gathering information across projects is time-consuming.
Research is structured into different categories, and each research study includes various file types such as PowerPoint presentations, Word documents, Excel spreadsheets, and sometimes even hours of user testing video clips. If users want to explore research in-depth, they must download all the documents and review the raw materials manually.
One-Stop Solution for Research Synthesis
It enables researchers and designers to dive into research instantly with just a few clicks to narrow down the scope of available studies. Users can interact with the library using natural language, from generating a screener to searching for detailed information.
Advanced Search to Precisely Reference Targeted Documents
Instead of navigating the entire design research library, you can quickly narrow your search to ensure shorter processing times and more accurate, targeted insights from the AI agent. Want to extract insights specifically from slides your colleagues presented? Need to exclude numerical data from spreadsheets? Our filtering tools help you instantly access exactly what you need.
Accountable Reference Resources
The library shows which internal files the AI references, identifies teammates who contributed to the generated insights, and illustrates how their work supports the overall narrative. Designers and researchers can easily review, trace, and provide feedback on AI-generated content, fostering a more accountable and collaborative design intelligence system.
