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📰 3 THINGS TO CHECK OUT
AI Didn't Create the Technical Craft Crisis
- In this piece from writer Dolphia Arnstein, she argues that the erosion of technical fluency in design long predates AI and that AI tools have simply made the issue impossible to ignore. Arnstein traces this back to a decade-long industry narrative that designers don't need to understand implementation.
- The result, she points out, is a profession that's been increasingly sidelined in technical conversations. She cites design leaders like Matt Ström, who argues that if we don’t train junior designers now, we’ll have no senior designers for the complex work AI can’t do.
- “This is the path forward…to ‘designers should understand the systems they’re designing for’ as a baseline professional expectation.”
Join the Figma Makeathon—Now Through March 2
- Figma and Contra have teamed up for a Makeathon with up to $100,000 in prizes, and entries close Monday, March 2nd. The challenge is simple: use Figma Make to build an interaction design to shape culture. The best overall design wins a $50K cash prize, with additional prizes for craft, innovation, reimagining iconic interactions, and fan favorite.
- All participants get access to Figma Make for the duration of the hackathon—making this one of the best opportunities right now to get hands-on with the tool in a real, high-stakes context. Whether you're gunning for the prize or want a reason to push your prototyping skills further, this is a worthwhile way to spend the weekend.
- If you want to go deeper into this go-to industry tool, our AI Prototyping Camp covers exactly the kind of AI-powered design workflows that Figma Make is built for. Learn more and enroll in the next cohort.
Building AI Prototypes That Last
- Product designer Allie Paschal argues that many AI-generated prototypes are built without a clear sense of what they're supposed to become. AI-generated prototypes look polished and test well, but are often structurally bound to the tool that made them, leaving engineers to rebuild from scratch after validation.
- Paschal breaks down the landscape of AI app-building tools and how each is optimized for a different moment in the product lifecycle. She is quick to point out that if a team’s goals are only to show and validate ideas quickly, disposable prototypes are a wanted outcome, not a flaw. But overall, she advocates moving away from "How fast can we generate this?" and asking "What happens after idea validation?"
- “When teams evaluate tools based on intention, like what they’ll be able to keep or build on, they shift their mindset from only speed alone to idea continuity.”
💜 PORTFOLIO INSPIRATION
UX Academy graduate Ruth Leach brings a diverse background in industrial design, customer services, and market research to her UX design career, where she applies a human-centered, problem-solving sensibility. In her project Spriggle, she designed a mobile platform for local plant and seed exchange, blending peer-to-peer marketplace functionality with community events and discussion, backed by thorough user research and a brand identity she built from scratch. In another project, she created a responsive website for a local café with no existing digital presence, prioritizing the information users actually search for—menus, hours, location, and dietary details—while capturing the warmth of the business itself. Across her projects, Ruth demonstrates careful research synthesis, thoughtful information architecture, and a genuine instinct for designing experiences that feel right for the people who will use them.
Got a portfolio you love that you’d like to share with our audience? Email your suggestions to hello@designlab.com.
💡 INTERESTING STUFF...
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- A Designer’s Guide to Eco-Friendly Interfaces
- 5 Best Practices for Successful Design Handoff
Design should not dominate things, should not dominate people. It should help people. That's its role. — Dieter Rams, industrial designer
🧪 FROM THE LAB
Courses Launching Soon
AI for Visual Design launches March 6th. Newly updated to reflect how creative teams work in 2026, this course helps designers not only build proficiency with the latest AI tools but also create seamless, scalable workflows.
Who it’s for: Visual designers, art directors, marketers, brand designers, and any creatives who have experimented with AI tools but haven't yet built repeatable systems.
Grab your seat in the next cohort or join our live informational webinar on Tuesday, March 3rd at 1pm ET to learn more.
Strategic Business Acumen for Designers launches March 6th. Strengthen your ability to connect design decisions to business outcomes, communicate the value of your work to stakeholders, and take on a more strategic role on your team.
Who it’s for: Mid-to-senior-level designers, agency designers, freelancers, in-house design teams, and design entrepreneurs who want to think more strategically but lack formal business training.
Advanced Figma launches March 13th. Our highest-rated course, this Figma masterclass helps designers go deeper into the nuances of Figma and learn the shortcuts and workflows of top product designers.
Who it’s for: Mid-to-senior-level designers who want to design in Figma with greater speed, flexibility, and precision.
Join our live info session on Monday, March 9th at 12pm ET, or enroll now.
