Hello Reader,
We’re in a weird and exciting moment in Product. Prototyping and AI-powered development tools are evolving fast, meaning that engineering and design resources are no longer the bottlenecks.
AI can now spin up polished screens, clickable flows, even fully functional apps with just a prompt. It’s honestly pretty amazing how far we’ve come. But it also has me asking:
If we’re all using the same tools, trained on the same data, building the same patterns… how do we stand out?
Let’s talk about it.
Everyone’s Starting From the Same Place
AI tools like Lovable, Bolt, Replit, and Figma AI are doing exactly what they promised: accelerating the path from idea to interface. That’s great. Especially when you’re validating quickly or trying to show direction.
But here’s the catch: if we’re all pulling from the same models (and most of these tools use Claude and OpenAI these days), we’re probably going to land in similar places. You end up with something that looks good, but feels… familiar. Many of these models converge on the same UI patterns. If you give them the same prompt, it’s going to look pretty similar.
While this is great for some use cases where a “good enough” UI solves the problem, it might hinder the success of others. If your user experience is how you differentiate, you will need to think outside the box. AI can get you part of the way there, but you still need to add your own magic.
The Last 20% Still Belongs to Humans
This is the part that AI can’t do. It can’t rethink an interaction from scratch or create a moment of delight that breaks the mold.
In a sea of similar dating apps, Tinder came up with the swipe to move from profile to profile, and to choose yes or no. This interaction is now standard in many of the interfaces we see today, but at the time it was a breakthrough that set them apart. Even before that, Pinterest pioneered the card layout, which allowed you to easily scan your photos. This is now even baked into Google’s Material UI.
This is the work I talk about when I say “escaping the build trap”. Tools help you build quickly and efficiently. But great product outcomes don’t come from only building quickly. They come from creativity in solving user’s problems and knowing where you can add value.
Design is rooted in human understanding
In Product Operations, we talk about how tooling, data, and process are essential but not enough. They create the conditions for great product management. But the judgment, the intuition, the contextual understanding of users? That still lives with the humans in the loop.
The same is true for these new design tools. They’ll get you part of the way there. But if we’re not careful, we start outsourcing the thinking too. We start accepting average because it’s “done.”
The products that stand out will be the ones that feel most intentional. Most human.
Questions to Ask When You’re Working With AI Designs
So the next time you’re working with AI tools, ask yourself:
- Where’s the spark? Is there anything here that would make a user smile or say “wait, that’s cool”?
- What’s actually new? Are we just speeding up execution, or are we rethinking how someone gets to their goal?
- What would AI never have come up with? What’s the unexpected idea, the small detail, the leap of intuition that a model couldn’t predict?
Are we solving the real problem, or just producing more output?
It’s easy to fall into the trap of shipping polished, beautifully designed products that don’t move the needle. Don’t let speed distract you from value.
AI is here to stay. And that’s a good thing. But the best teams won’t just be faster, they’ll be sharper. More curious. More willing to ask, “What could make this experience unforgettable?”
That’s the part that still needs us.
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See you soon,
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Melissa Perri
Founder Product Institute, Board Member, and Teacher
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