AI is Turning Coders into Designers (& It's Getting Weird)

Dear Readers,

Have you noticed something strange lately? Developers who never touched design tools are suddenly shipping pretty good-looking products. How is this happening?

AI design tools are changing everything, and I've been watching this trend with both excitement and a bit of concern. 🤔

Devs Who Never Opened Figma Are Now "Designers"

The old way of building products was clear - either learn design, hire a designer, or ship something ugly.

Now? A dev can type "make me a clean dashboard with a sidebar, stats cards, and a graph" into something like V0, Lovable, or Replit and get decent code they can ship right away.

It's not amazing design, but it's good enough. And "good enough" is reshaping how we build products in 2025.

The Problem: Everything Looks the Same?

Browse through new products launching lately and you'll spot it immediately - that "AI-generated look."

It works, it functions, but there's something missing. When everyone uses the same AI tools with similar prompts, we end up with:

• The same rounded corners.

• The same shadow styles.

• The same layout patterns.

It's creating a sea of products that work fine but look forgettable.

What Actually Works (From My Experience)

After months of building with these tools, here's my simple advice:

Use AI for the boring stuff - layouts, basic components, responsive behavior. But then take time to add your own touch.

The best products use AI-generated designs as a starting point, not the final answer.

We're at this weird point where:

• Making something look decent is easier than ever

• Making something look unique is more valuable than ever

This isn't just about pretty interfaces - it's about standing out when the basic design bar is getting higher for everyone.

The Real Opportunity

This shift isn't eliminating designers - it's changing what they focus on.

Smart teams use AI for the basic UI work, which frees up designers to think about bigger questions like user experience and brand feeling.

• Developers can build faster.

• Designers can focus on harder problems.

• Founders can ship without waiting months for design.

Looking Forward

As these tools get better, the human touch becomes more important, not less.

The winners will be those who find the right balance - using AI for speed while adding the creative elements that make products feel special.

What do you think? Are you using AI design tools in your workflow? Drop a comment and let me know!

Until next time,

Alex 👩🏻‍💻