Everywhere we look, product designers are sick and tired of AI this, AI that.

It feels like every day, there is a new tool, a new workflow, a new “Figma is dead” post, a new vibe coding demo, and another person telling designers they are either 'cooked', obsolete, or about to become '10x'.

Reality is completely different. So try and relax!

In this episode of The Design Table Podcast, Tyler and Nick talk about whether AI is making product design more fun, less fun, or just more overwhelming.

They get into the current AI chaos around product design, vibe coding, designers touching code, Figma, Claude, Cursor, transcript-driven workflows, AI bloat, and the blurry line between prototypes, production, and things that only look real but secretly are not.

Nick shares his first real experiments with vibe coding, including using Claude to make an interactive prototype he could not easily show in Figma. Tyler shares why he has been trying to skip Figma, why that keeps falling apart, and why polished product design still needs taste, craft, spacing, typography, and all the tiny pixel-level decisions AI does not magically understand yet.

They also discuss the return of the builder-designer, why more designers may need to understand code again, and how AI is changing expectations around prototyping, collaboration, and product development.

The conversation explores the emotional side of AI too. The fear that craft is disappearing. The weirdness of everyone creating prototypes. The source-of-truth problem. The mental load of keeping up. And why the most useful AI workflows might not be flashy demos, but boring things like transcripts, summaries, prompts, and turning messy meeting feedback into actual next steps.

This episode is about staying useful in a design world that keeps changing, without losing your taste, your craft, or your mind because someone on LinkedIn discovered a new tool before breakfast.

In this episode you’ll learn:
🔸 Why designers should stop chasing every new AI tool
🔸 How to decide whether AI actually helps your workflow
🔸 Why vibe coding can be useful for exploring ideas
🔸 Where AI-generated prototypes create confusion
🔸 Why designers touching code still need to understand developer thinking
🔸 Why Figma is not dead just because someone made a shiny demo
🔸 How transcripts can improve prompts, workflows, and follow-up work
🔸 Why AI bloat can make communication feel less human
🔸 Why product design still needs taste, polish, and craft

Chapters:
0:00 - Trying to escape Figma with AI for a month
0:57 - Don't fall for the hype — filter by your own workflow
3:58 - Roles are flattening and the field moves 3x faster
6:12 - Going back to the generalist skillset
7:41 - The hidden gap: designers need a developer's mindset
9:35 - When everyone prototypes, what's a designer worth?
11:17 - Is design still fun in the AI wave?
16:53 - "I vibe coded a thing today"
21:33 - Five terrible AI ideas that led to the right one
23:27 - Transcripts as context: the real AI unlock
30:43 - AI-written messages kill human connection
34:07 - Quick-fire: will AI take your role?
35:25 - Stay positive, think for yourself

Subscribe to The Design Table Podcast
https://www.designtablepodcast.com/subscribe

Resources to help you level up your design career:

Get your portfolio and career strategy reviewed with a Design Table Audit
https://www.designtablepodcast.com/products/design-table-audit

Download the Product Design Blueprint
https://www.designtablepodcast.com/products/product-design-blueprint

Join our UX and product design community
https://www.designtablepodcast.com/products/ux-and-product-design-community

In need of support? Take a look at our resources
https://www.designtablepodcast.com/learn

More about Tyler and Nick
Tyler: https://www.designtablepodcast.com/hosts/tyler-white\
Nick: https://www.designtablepodcast.com/hosts/nick-groeneveld