Reflections on our Design workshop on Artificial Intelligence (AI) Design Skills, Principles and Practices

On 9 January, Design Council held a speculative design workshop on Artificial Intelligence (AI) Design Skills, Principles and Practices. Our aim was to bring together a range of people with different methodologies and priorities to talk about design, data and AI, focusing on the value of design skills, both now and in 2030. The audience was a small group of designers and other professionals from urban planning, retail and healthcare sectors.

To explore these trends, we commissioned some speculative research looking ahead to 2030.  We then ran a speculative design workshop to think about both the future, and the challenges of today, around the untapped potential of design skills. We used some provocations to kickstart the conversations. 

This work builds on our 2017 report investigating the skills used in design, the link between these skills and productivity and innovation, and how they align with future demand for skills across the wider UK economy. We have also developed a framework: Head, Heart, Hand for thinking about the types of skills that designers need.