It’s wild right now. Every day I read about processes that are either being sped up or fully replaced by AI. As a UX practitioner, I follow these trends closely. I am constantly testing new tools and methods to push my work processes forward. While the injection of AI into design is undeniably exciting, I often feel it needs to be more balanced with the fundamentals of Lean UX.
My job is to build the right thing. When we, as a team, think about new features or entirely new products, there’s always a risk of heading in the wrong direction. Either because we haven’t found true market fit or because we haven’t understood our users well enough. That’s why I’ve always relied on fast prototyping to validate assumptions. It’s the most effective way to uncover blind spots early. And ultimately, that’s what risk mitigation is all about: reducing blind spots.
But with AI in the mix, something curious is happening. We’re no longer testing assumptions—we’re skipping straight to building full products. And while that’s impressive, the danger is that we stop treating these things as what they really are: prototypes. Experiments. Starting points. Not final answers.
The speed is thrilling—but if we don’t slow down just enough to question and validate, we risk shipping beautiful solutions to the wrong problems.