Three design principles for the AI era: iterate, get feedback and connect the dots

The article, published in Fast Company as part of its Impact Council (a paid, invitation-only community of leaders and experts), is written by Saad Rajan, CEO and co-founder of Naya Studio. His thesis is that, although technology is changing at a dizzying pace and tools that seem to replace designers appear every week, three principles of good design have held true through every technological shift.

Rajan defines good design as something refined, thoughtful and that connects emotionally and practically with its user. He describes it as a simple output or solution, created and synthesized from diverse and complex inputs. That output can be a physical product, an experience, an app or even a narrative. He raises the questions that, in his view, trouble designers, engineers, researchers and product people: what it means to be a designer today, what good design is and how it continues to be produced.

Principle 1: the power of iteration. According to the author, great work goes through numerous iterations, in an experimental process of trial and error with occasional bursts of creativity. He cites James Dyson, who reportedly made 5,127 prototypes of his vacuum cleaner, with 5,126 failures he learned from. He calls for celebrating drafts as much as finished products, because a design may never be complete. AI can make iterations faster and cheaper, but it does not remove the need for them: an AI's first output rarely works perfectly and, if it does, one should suspect it is too generic. With faster iterations, it becomes necessary to reflect on what matters and what does not, and he draws on Saint-Exupéry's quote about perfection being achieved when there is nothing left to take away. Rajan says that, in his experience, it usually takes around 100 iterations before something feels right, whether a presentation, a feature or a physical product, and warns that they should not be done "in a bubble."

Principle 2: the power of feedback. Co-creation improves the quality and depth of the work. Feedback can come from designers of the past, from end users, from watching people grapple with real products, and also from engineers, marketing teams, finance and other stakeholders, in an interdisciplinary approach. AI adds a further mechanism: it can draw on a vast amount of knowledge and can be asked for feedback from different perspectives. But the author cautions that it should not be the only source, and that it is even more important to learn which feedback to prioritize and when to incorporate it, citing a Gujarati saying: "The wise person listens to everyone but makes their own decision." He also urges looking at one's own lens: we are the sum of many experiences and stories, and it is easy to assume AI understands this and trust it blindly, when it does not. One must make sure one's own voice is heard.

Principle 3: the power of connecting the dots. Rajan uses the culinary metaphor of marinating food or letting a curry simmer: by giving a design time, the dots begin to connect. Stepping back makes it possible to see the big picture and the coherence of the story, and to ask whether the work is still connected to its origin or has drifted. AI can help forge stronger connections, but only if it is allowed to. Remembering the narrative—the knowledge, steps and "intermediate" assets accumulated during the process—has historically been difficult; AI can help preserve that journey and create a map of how the design took shape, highlighting key decision points and offering a framework for future evolutions. This makes it possible to see which iterations mattered most, where there were detours and where to draw inspiration from other work. The risk is that this speed outpaces what we can process, so he recommends stepping away from screens, taking walks, seeing friends and family or going to coffee shops before returning to work.

The conclusion places the current moment within a long series of technological revolutions, from pencils and printing presses to steam engines, electricity and now automation, and suggests that each generation faced similar fears: whether it would adapt, whether it would be replaced, whether what it had learned would remain relevant. His conclusion is that certain human principles have endured: constant iteration, intentional feedback and stepping back to see the big picture before returning to the detail. He asserts that designers will survive this era and help shape it, and that their adaptability may be one of their most important qualities.

This is an opinion piece, with no original empirical data or studies: its claims rest on the author's experience and on well-known quotes.