I have found this rather extraordinary, real-life UX design Job posting by accident. Try read it loud at the office (if you dare)!
Question: what is really completely totally wrong? Find the clue
Below I will ask my AI tool to help me evaluate the quality of the Job posting. Read on…
Recent UX Job design posting:
Under designated supervision, designs and evaluates user interfaces and user experiences. May utilize design software, wireframing tools, or other UX equipment in a situation where established procedures are followed and where specialized design skills are essential. This position requires the associate to be friendly and passionately focused on delivering a personalized user experience.
Performs the following:
a. Delivers one or more elements of UX such as wireframes, user flows, prototypes, high-fidelity designs, interaction models, and user research findings at a review session or design sprint.
b. Creates simple prototypes, sketches, and design concepts.
c. Updates design components at collaboration platforms.
d. May draft and refine design specifications. May sketch, draft, and refine user interfaces and interactions.
e. May create and evaluate usability tasks such as card sorting, A/B testing, usability testing, etc.
f. May be required to apply standard design patterns to new features.
g. May design responsive interfaces by adding elements, interactions, etc., to a design system or adapt a pre-existing template and test across different devices.
h. May place designed components, i.e., buttons, icons, etc., into a design mockup.
i. Sets up design presentations, toolkits, style guides, design assets, and prototypes, as required.
j. In a centralized design team or other central UX facility, may operate design software or tools for the purpose of creating detailed design elements as icons, typography, color schemes, etc.
Determines design effectiveness by means of user feedback or by visual inspection and iterates when necessary.
At a UX design activity that is a quick prototyping station or mobile usability testing cart, with either a digital interface or physical mockup capacity, performs the following:
a. Delivers interactive prototypes, usability test results, design iterations, user journey maps, personas, and storyboards.
b. Stocks appropriate design assets prior to design sessions and replenishes UX resources, as required.
c. Ensures that prototypes and design elements are properly refined or iterated, as appropriate.
d. Maintains required documentation; checks returned design assets; and prepares daily design progress reports, and other related documentation.
Collects feedback, synthesizes insights from usability sessions, and makes recommendations.
Assists in ensuring optimum resource availability by taking periodic inventory counts, advising management staff of slow-moving, outdated, or missing design assets.
Resolves user complaints at the lowest level and informs management of barriers to meeting the optimal user experience.
Maintains required level of design quality and cleanliness of work area.
Read the critics by my chatGPT ‘UX design mentor Assistant – ask\wAI’
Prompt given (= human Sandwich model…):
Can you explain me how this job-to-be-done-like Job posting text below is akin to spreading the lowest denominator ‘amateur’ practice strategy to disrupt our professional UX design metier and rebuild it with AI. Can you see how the text is showing this bias to amateur UX design practice and why it can only be done with AI (as opposed to human, critical thinking designers and researchers)? Please enter in detail of wordings and sentences that show the limits of that Job posting text…
Response of my chatGPT AI-mentor assistant ask\wAI:
The job posting text you’ve provided reflects a bias towards a more mechanized, less thoughtful approach to UX design, one that leans heavily on procedural tasks that could easily be automated, rather than emphasizing the depth of critical thinking, empathy, and creativity that experienced UX professionals bring to the table. Here’s a detailed breakdown of how the wording and tasks in the job description reveal this bias and why it aligns more with AI-driven processes than with human-centered design.
Superficial Tasks and AI Automation
- “May utilize design software, wireframing tools, or other UX equipment”: The wording here suggests a mechanical use of tools rather than a deep engagement with the design process. This could be easily managed by AI, which excels at repetitive tasks like wireframing or simple design adjustments based on established patterns.
- “Creates simple prototypes, sketches, and design concepts”: The emphasis on “simple” suggests that the role doesn’t require deep conceptual thinking or innovation, areas where human designers typically excel. AI tools are already proficient at generating basic prototypes and designs rapidly, which devalues the role of a human designer in this context.
Procedure-Driven Process
- “Performs the following: a. Delivers one or more elements of UX…”: The bullet-point list of tasks—delivering wireframes, creating prototypes, updating design components—reads like a checklist that an AI could follow. It reflects a focus on output over outcomes, reducing the role of the designer to a functionary rather than a strategic thinker.
- “May be required to apply standard design patterns to new features”: The reliance on “standard design patterns” further suggests a lack of creativity or innovation, which are traditionally human strengths. AI can efficiently apply these patterns, but doing so without deeper contextual understanding may lead to generic or suboptimal designs.
Operational, Not Strategic
- “Maintains required level of design quality and cleanliness of work area”: This phrasing hints at a factory-like environment where the focus is on maintaining standards rather than pushing boundaries. AI-driven systems are well-suited to maintaining consistency and quality control, but they lack the ability to think strategically or contextually about design problems.
Devaluing Human Expertise
- “Determines design effectiveness by means of user feedback or by visual inspection and iterates when necessary”: This suggests a superficial evaluation process that doesn’t engage deeply with the nuances of user experience. AI tools can certainly manage feedback loops and visual inspections, but they struggle with the deeper, empathetic understanding required to interpret complex user needs and behaviors.
Limiting Professional Growth
- “Assists in ensuring optimum resource availability by taking periodic inventory counts, advising management staff of slow-moving, outdated, or missing design assets”: The inclusion of inventory management tasks, which are administrative and could easily be automated, further trivializes the role. It suggests that the job is more about managing resources than about engaging with users or improving their experience.
AI’s Fit vs. Human Critical Thinking
This job description leans towards tasks that can be performed by AI—mechanical, procedural, and lacking the depth of human-centered design thinking. It doesn’t emphasize the need for creativity, empathy, or strategic thinking, all of which are crucial for effective UX design. The role described seems to reduce the UX designer to a task executor, rather than a thinker or innovator, which aligns with AI’s capabilities but undermines the value of human designers?27†source??28†source?.
This trend reflects a broader shift in some areas of UX design where AI is used to automate and optimize processes, but at the risk of devaluing the profession by encouraging a lowest-common-denominator approach. The critical thinking, user empathy, and creative problem-solving that are hallmarks of good UX design are not easily replicated by AI, and this job description seems to ignore or undervalue those aspects??.
