Aug. 16, 2025

The Future of UX in the Age of AI — And Why It Still Needs Humans! | Nick Cawthon

In this episode of An Hour of Innovation podcast, host Vit Lyoshin sits down with Nick Cawthon, a seasoned UX designer, researcher, educator, and founder of Gage, to explore how user experience is evolving in the age of AI — and why great UX still needs humans at its core.

Nick takes us back to the early days of the internet and the iPhone revolution, explaining how the rise of design systems transformed UX from aesthetics into an experience-first discipline. He introduces the British Design Council’s Double Diamond framework, showing how research and design must work hand in hand to ensure teams are not only “designing the thing right” but also “designing the right thing.”

The conversation dives into the balance between quantitative and qualitative research, illustrated through projects like analyzing 44 million Airbnb reviews, and highlights the importance of combining data with real human stories. Nick shares a memorable story of a San Francisco taqueria juggling eight iPads from different delivery platforms, a vivid reminder of how real-world UX often falls short of the sleek marketing promise.

They also discuss the role of AI in UX research, from survey creation and persona generation to usability testing, and why over-reliance on automation risks losing the empathy, candor, and human connection that drive meaningful insights. Nick emphasizes that while AI can enhance workflows, human-centered design remains irreplaceable.

For designers entering the field, Nick stresses the importance of understanding developer workflows, version control, and component libraries. He warns that relying solely on tools like Figma without bridging design-to-code workflows risks widening the gap between design intent and development reality.

Show Notes

Nick Cawthon is the founder of Gage, a user experience consultancy, and a faculty member at the California College of the Arts, where he teaches UX and data visualization. With over two decades of experience, Nick has worked across startups and Fortune 500 companies, helping teams bridge the gap between design and development. He is known for his deep expertise in research operations, design systems, and the integration of emerging technologies into UX workflows. Passionate about both the craft and the strategy of design, Nick brings a rare mix of practical know-how and visionary thinking to the conversation.

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Takeaways

How the iPhone and standardized design systems shifted UX from aesthetics to experience-first thinking.
Why the Double Diamond Framework is still one of the best ways to ensure you build the right thing before building it right.
Nick shares a vivid story of a taqueria struggling to manage orders from eight delivery platforms.
How blending numbers with human stories creates deeper, more persuasive insights.
How AI speeds up surveys, persona creation, and testing, but risks losing authentic human insights.
Why algorithms can’t replace empathy and genuine human connection.
The importance of moving beyond Figma handoffs to integrated design-to-code workflows.
Why modern UX designers must understand developer workflows and component libraries.
Why safeguarding data and respecting consent are essential in AI-powered design.
Why designers should preserve proven design patterns instead of reinventing the wheel.
Why moving too fast with AI-driven features can frustrate users and erode loyalty.