UX Evolved - Strategically fusing UX+AI

Whitney Tolley was our first-ever returning guest on UX Evolved — and for good reason. When she joined us last time, she left us with a line that stuck: if designers keep seeing themselves as UI generators, they'll be replaced. A lot has happened since then.Figma MCP is real. Agentic workflows are real. And Whitney — Design Director at Cloudbeds — has been living inside all of it. In this conversation, we go beyond the hype to talk about what's actually changing on design teams right now: how power dynamics between designers and engineers are shifting, why synthetic user research is a legitimate pre-screening layer (not a replacement for real humans), and what the role of design looks like when the cost of building collapses.Her closing answer alone is worth the listen: she wasn't using AI wrong — she was using it to speed up a broken process instead of questioning whether that process needed to exist at all.In this episode:00:00 — Introduction01:22 — Has the definition of what designers own changed?02:57 — Figma MCP and escaping "polish and fix" mode04:38 — How AI is shifting power dynamics between design and engineering06:11 — A real example: AI agents closing backlog bugs in 15 minutes07:20 — What a designer's week actually looks like now08:20 — Designers as trust builders in an AI-slop world09:26 — AI collapses the build cycle — does prioritization change?10:00 — Designing with context, not just coverage12:09 — Is human judgment in research changing?12:33 — How Whitney uses synthetic AI users in lean research14:55 — AI-assisted heuristic evaluation: speed without replacing instinct17:23 — The growing overlap between UX and product management18:31 — Where does UX fit in agentic enterprise SaaS?19:11 — The UX maturity model as a survival framework20:52 — Does Figma have a future?25:06 — Are your products agent-friendly? The question every team should be asking26:10 — Who are we hiring in 2027? (Spoiler: unicorns)29:18 — Specialization isn't dead — it's a quality gate30:08 — "Fail fast" vs. "fail forward"31:34 — Closing question: what do you wish you'd known when we first recorded?32:16 — The biggest unlock: stop optimizing broken processes, rebuild themConnect with Whitney Tolley:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/whitneydoyle/Claire Vo's podcast (referenced in episode): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I5X4_mYoiM8Connect with UX Evolved:Substack: https://ericwebdesigner.substack.com/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/uxevolvedUX Evolved is a podcast for UX professionals navigating the AI transformation of design. New episodes drop monthly.

"The biggest thing PMs get wrong about UX? That it's just about the UI. It's actually about psychology."Blanca Barragan — PM at Versapay, Forbes Technology Council member — knows that the best product decisions happen when there's healthy tension between disciplines. In this episode, we get into what actually happens when PMs and UX leads collaborate on AI products.What we cover:→ Why Blanca loves when designers tell her she's completely wrong→ The real PM/UX collaboration cadence (not the org chart version)→ Who owns the decision when AI can't deliver what the design promised→ What's happening when PMs start prototyping themselves→ The traditional UX skills AI teams are undervaluing→ Direct advice for UX leads worried about becoming irrelevantGuest: Blanca Barragan, Product Manager at Versapay & Forbes Technology Council MemberHost: Eric Ellis, UX Leader with 20+ years navigating technology disruptionsFor UX professionals worried about their relevance in an AI-first world: Blanca's betting on the psychology, the human insight, and the creative tension you bring to the table. Not the UI you generate.

Jen Blatz drops 26 bold predictions for UX in 2026 - and they're not comfortable ones. As a Principal UX Researcher at BECU and host of BlatzChatz, Jen brings a journalism background and "troublemaker" mindset to dissecting where our profession is really headed.We dig into the hard truths: Why resilience is now the ultimate skill. Whether personal branding is mandatory for survival. Why entry-level UX jobs are vanishing. And what happens when you force users to pronounce pharmaceutical names over the phone (spoiler: it's a disaster).If you're anxious about AI, job security, or whether you need to become a content creator to stay relevant in UX - this conversation is for you.0:00 - Introduction: The Troublemaker Who Questions Everything1:23 - The "Playing Dumb" Research Technique7:00 - The 26 Predictions for 2026: Origin Story12:30 - Prediction #9: Resilience as the Ultimate Skill23:10 - Prediction #14: Personal Branding and Your Résumé31:21 - The Reinvention Mindset: Who Thrives vs Who Gets Left Behind32:50 - Short-Term vs Long-Term: Figma Mastery and the "Doers Not Thinkers" Trend36:30 - The Ultimate Question: Redesigning One ThingRESOURCES📝 Jen's 26 Predictions for UX in 2026: https://blatzchatz.com/blog/f/what%E2%80%99s-next-in-ux-my-top-26-bold-predictions-for-2026🎙️ BlatzChatz Podcast:  @BlatzChatz  💼 Connect with Jen on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jenniferblatz/ABOUT JEN BLATZJen Blatz is a Principal UX Researcher at BECU (Boeing Employees' Credit Union), co-founder of the UX Research and Strategy Group (one of the world's largest UX communities), and host of the BlatzChatz podcast and newsletter. With a journalism background and experience spanning VCA Animal Hospitals, Capital One, and Rocket Mortgage, Jen brings "real talk with a side-eye" to the UX profession. She's a self-described "troublemaker who questions things for a living" - and the UX community is better for it.ABOUT UX EVOLVEDUX Evolved explores how our profession adapts and thrives as AI reshapes design. Host Eric Ellis brings 20+ years of UX leadership experience across corporate, consulting, and startup environments. Through conversations with UX veterans who've navigated multiple technology disruptions, we cut through the AI hype to understand what really matters.

The ground is shifting under our profession faster than ever. In this episode, I'm sharing three data-backed predictions about what's happening to UX in 2026 - not someday, but THIS YEAR.⏱️ TIMESTAMPS:00:00 - Introduction02:00 - Prediction 1: Visual Polish is Table Stakes, Business Impact is the Differentiator06:00 - Prediction 2: The Great UX Salary Split10:00 - Prediction 3: The 10x Designer Becomes Real14:00 - So What? The Path Forward🔗 REFERENCED ARTICLES:From Benchmarking to Orchestration: https://ericwebdesigner.substack.com/p/from-benchmarking-to-orchestrationThe Great UX Realignment: https://ericwebdesigner.substack.com/p/the-great-ux-realignment-how-smartWhat AI Can't Research: https://ericwebdesigner.substack.com/p/what-ai-cant-research-a-conversationDid You Hallucinate? (UX Research): https://ericwebdesigner.substack.com/p/did-you-hallucinate-what-a-ux-researcherWhen the Double Diamond Meets Machine Speed: https://ericwebdesigner.substack.com/p/when-the-double-diamond-meets-machineThe Junior Designer Advantage: https://ericwebdesigner.substack.com/p/the-junior-designer-advantage-whyThe Last Time Everything Changed: https://ericwebdesigner.substack.com/p/the-last-time-everything-changedThe Death of "That's Not What We Do": https://ericwebdesigner.substack.com/p/the-death-of-thats-not-what-we-do📊 SOURCES & CITATIONS:Nielsen Norman Group: "The UX Reckoning: Prepare for 2025 and Beyond" - https://www.nngroup.com/articles/ux-reset-2025/CareerFoundry: "The 20 Best UX Portfolio Examples" - https://careerfoundry.com/en/blog/ux-design/ux-portfolio-examples-inspiration/UX Playbook: "How to Write UX Case Studies That Land You Job" - https://uxplaybook.org/articles/ux-case-study-minto-pyramid-structure-guideGlassdoor UX Salary Report Q4 2025Gartner: AI-Augmented Design Teams Report (Q4 2025)MIT Business Review: AI Implementation Success Rates (2025)🎙️ PREVIOUS EPISODES REFERENCED:Episode 1: Adam Howell - The Last Time Everything ChangedDan Zola - What AI Can't ResearchMiwako Zosel - The Junior Researcher PerspectiveWhitney Tolley - When the Double Diamond Meets Machine SpeedAmit Popat - AI/ML in Hospitality TechAbout UX Evolved:UX is evolving, not dying. Through conversations with industry veterans who've navigated multiple technology disruptions, we explore how UX professionals adapt and thrive as AI reshapes our profession. Subscribe for monthly episodes that go beyond the hype to understand what really matters.Connect:Newsletter: https://ericwebdesigner.substack.comLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/uxevolved #UXDesign #AIDesign #ProductDesign #UXCareer #DesignStrategy #UXResearch #AITools #DesignLeadership #2026Predictions

Amit Popat built a beautiful AI product that nobody bought. Then he sat in a hotel watching managers use whiteboards to make pricing decisions in 2019. That's when everything changed.From Cambridge math to building EasyJet's personalization engine to leading AI/ML at Cloudbeds, Amit has learned the hard way that cool technology doesn't win—solving real problems does. We dive into his own Alexa fail, why 1970s Paris Metro machines beat modern UX, and why tinkering and curiosity aren't optional in an AI-accelerated world.If you're building AI products or wondering how UX translates to this new landscape, this conversation will ground you in what actually matters: proximity to real problems beats assumptions every time.(00:00) Introduction(01:49) Welcome and Amit's Background(02:47) From Pure Math to Product Thinking(03:53) Early iPhone Development and UX Education(04:47) The Paris Metro Lesson: 1970s UX vs Modern Touchscreens(06:22) Removing Friction: Timeless Design Principles(07:00) The Value of Tinkering and Curiosity(08:45) Embedding Yourself in the Problem Space(10:06) The Whiteboard Story: Revenue Management in 2019(13:23) Building AI That Solves Real Problems(18:14) From Engineering to Product Leadership(21:45) The AI Hype vs Reality Gap(26:32) When Technical Excellence Meets User Needs(31:18) Network Intelligence and Pattern Recognition(35:27) Mistakes and Lessons Learned(38:57) The Alexa Catastrophe: Beautiful Product Nobody Bought(41:37) Dampening the Geek: Ego and Humility in Product Design(42:42) Closing Question: Redesigning Apple's iPhone Holder

Dan Zola (1,000+ user interviews, Google) on what changes with AI research tools—and what doesn't. Body language, organizational trust, and knowing which follow-up question matters most. The skills worth investing in now.

AI can analyze thousands of user interviews in seconds. So what's left for human UX researchers?Miwako Zosel explains why she's learning SQL and Python, where AI actually helps research (and where it dangerously fails), and why "research is glue"—the most human skill in UX.For researchers wondering if their career has a future: this is your episode.Guest: Miwako Zosel, UX Researcher at SmartBear

Two years before ChatGPT became a household name, Whitney Tolley was already seeing the cracks in how UX teams approached design thinking. Writing for the Cloudbeds Technology Blog in early 2023, she challenged the conventional wisdom around the Double Diamond—that beloved framework UX practitioners have relied on for nearly two decades.In this conversation, Whitney reveals how AI has transformed her team's approach to design thinking. When a strategic workshop agenda became obsolete mid-session, AI helped them redesign day two in 30 minutes. When customer insights live in thousands of recorded conversations, AI helps surface the human stories that shape what they build.Essential listening for UX professionals navigating AI disruption without losing what makes them valuable.Additional advice on how to manage your UX career from Whitney.

Adam Howell launched Accomplice in 2021—one of the first generative AI design tools, before Midjourney or DALL-E 2. Now as Principal PM for AI at Versapay, he's seen both sides: building AI tools AND integrating them into real UX workflows.In this episode of UX Evolved, Adam breaks down what's actually different about the AI disruption versus the Web 2.0 and mobile shifts he lived through at JotSpot, Google, and InVision.Key Insights:Why UX barely existed as we know it in 2005 (and what that means for AI anxiety)The real difference between past tech disruptions and today's AI momentWhich UX skills have stayed valuable across 20 years of changeWhy junior UXers might be in a better spot than junior developers right nowWhat AI-first UX actually looks like in practiceTimestamps:00:00 - Introduction03:15 - What UX meant in 2005 (spoiler: almost nothing like today)12:30 - Building through the Google/AJAX revolution22:45 - Creating Mocksup and the prototyping tool wars31:20 - Launching one of the first AI design tools43:10 - Why this disruption feels different52:40 - Skills that survive every tech shift58:30 - What UX looks like in 5 yearsAbout Adam Howell:Principal Product Manager for AI at Versapay | Former Google UX Designer (Gmail, Google Sites) | Co-founder of Mocksup (acquired by InVision) | Founder of Accomplice (early AI design tool)About UX Evolved:Long-form conversations with UX veterans navigating AI transformation. New episodes monthly exploring how our profession adapts and thrives.

Every UX professional is asking the same question right now: Is AI going to evolve our craft, or replace it entirely?I'm Eric Ellis, and I've spent twenty years designing through every major technology shift—from static wireframes to AI-powered experiences. Here's what I know: UX was never just about the tools. It's about understanding human needs and translating them into experiences that actually work.UX Evolved brings you in-depth conversations with the veterans who've navigated disruption before. We're cutting through the AI hype to explore what really matters—how our profession adapts, what skills endure, and why human insight remains irreplaceable.This isn't about learning the latest AI tool. It's about understanding how to thrive as technology reshapes everything we thought we knew about design.UX is evolving, not dying. Let's figure out how together.