WELCOME
Being Designerly 97 has curated content to boost your creative mindset. This issue has designerly insights and inspiration about AI's impact on design thinking, how people use AI, unlocking creativity, AI lowering creativity, changing skills in the age of GenAi, caring about the impact of design, and how the designerly habit of learning breeds success.
FEATURE
AI's impact on design thinking and product innovation
How is artificial intelligence (AI) reshaping the principles of design thinking and product innovation? In this 50-minute Better Innovation episode, host Jeff Saviano sits down with Sam Yen, Chief Innovation Officer for Commercial Banking at JP Morgan Chase & Co. for a thought provoking conversation on the transformative potential of generative AI (Gen AI).
Whether you're a seasoned designer, tech enthusiast, or simply intrigued by the evolving landscape of AI, this episode offers a glimpse into the transformative potential that lies ahead.
There's also a transcript if you prefer...
How People Are Using Gen AI
From a recent HBR article, people are using GenAI in different ways that can be categorized in 6 themes. Click through the link to see the details of the 6 themes and the 100 use cases. You should be able to see the linked image above, but the rest of the article may be behind a paywall: https://hbr.org/2024/03/how-people-are-really-using-genai
CREATIVITY
Unlocking creativity: Scientists discover origin of 'eureka' moments in the brain
A team from the University of Utah Health and Baylor College of Medicine peered into the inner workings of the brain to uncover the neural roots of creative thinking. Their findings, published in the journal BRAIN, reveal how different parts of our gray matter team up to produce those lightbulb moments.
“There’s not a creativity cortex,” says Ben Shofty, MD, PhD, an assistant professor of neurosurgery in the Spencer Fox Eccles School of Medicine and senior author of the study, in a media release. But the answer lies in a network of brain regions called the default mode network (DMN) that is active when our minds are wandering or daydreaming – basically, when we’re not focused on any specific task.
Experiment finds AI boosts creativity individually — but lowers it collectively
A new study examines whether AI could be an automated helper in creative tasks, with mixed results: It appeared to help less naturally creative people write more original short stories — but dampened the creativity of the group as a whole. It’s a trade-off that may be increasingly common as AI tools impinge on creative endeavors.
It seems to confirm the feeling many have expressed: that AI can be helpful but ultimately offers nothing truly new in creative endeavors.
CURIOSITY
Where the creative industry is heading, and how to survive the next 15 years
The creative industry is changing fast under the onslaught of AI. As Creative Boom celebrates their 15th anniversary, they share the community's best advice on how to not just survive but thrive over the next decade and a half.
Generative AI and preparing for a shift to skills-based hiring
As gen AI takes hold in the workplace, it’ll no doubt alter workflows, role requirements, and the skills necessary to get work done. The concern isn’t so much whether AI will replace jobs, but what skillsets the technology will replace, and how organizations and leaders can shift human priorities accordingly.
Understanding where and how gen AI will impact skills in the organization can also help inform internal training and upskilling programs. Organizations will need to ensure they’re focused on skills-development more than ever, keeping an eye on emerging and new skills.
VISUAL
The Amazon logo: a history – how the retail giant got its smile
Amazon is now 30 years old, and to track its progress from bookseller to retail giant, Creative Bloq takes a look at how its logo has grown and evolved over three decades.
UX
When Design Is the Problem
Manuel Lima, author of The New Designer, believes that designers cannot claim obliviousness, or continue ignoring the repercussions they have on society and the environment. We must care as much about our impact as we care about all other design elements — the creative process and craft, quality and attention to detail, user needs and empathy. We need a conscientious design that understands and prioritizes positive impact.
TOPICAL
Amazon CEO: This ability separates successful and stagnant careers
The key to success is to never stop trying to learn new things, according to Amazon CEO Andy Jassy.
“You have to be ravenous and hungry to find ways to learn,” Jassy said last week in a video posted by Amazon about the company’s famous list of 16 leadership principles, originally penned by founder Jeff Bezos.
In other words, the designerly habit of always learning!