Have a point of view

Form a direction you can test instead of waiting for certainty.

Designers have more questions than answers about AI.

What belongs in the interface? What should remain invisible? What becomes easier for the customer, and what new burden appears?

Waiting for certainty feels responsible. In practice, it leaves the direction to whoever speaks first.

A point of view is not a prediction. It is a position strong enough to guide the next decision and open enough to change when the evidence does.

See it

Relay's product team says every handoff should have an AI-generated summary.

What went in: A feature request framed as an inevitability.

What AI produced: Copy and interface patterns for automatic summaries.

What the designer decided: “AI should reduce the work of preparing a handoff, but the sender must see and approve anything another team will treat as a commitment.”

That position changed the interface. Relay could draft the summary, show its sources, and ask for approval. It could not silently publish it.

Why it works

  • A position gives ambiguous work a direction.
  • Evidence keeps conviction from becoming theatre.
  • A visible trade-off makes disagreement productive.
  • A revisit condition gives the team permission to learn without pretending the first answer is permanent.

Try it

Try it · 6 min

Write the position

Choose one unresolved question about how AI should appear in a product or design workflow. Write what you believe, who benefits, the trade-off you accept, the evidence behind it, and what would make you change your mind.

KeepA five-part point-of-view statement you can take into a product conversation and test through the work.

Check it

  • Does the position change a product or design decision?
  • Can someone reasonably disagree with it?
  • Is the customer consequence clearer than the technology?
  • Have you named the trade-off and the evidence?
  • Do you know when to revisit it?
Human checkpoint

Would you go to bat for this position in the next review?

Inspect whether it is specific enough to guide the interface, grounded enough to defend, and provisional enough to change when real use teaches you something new.

Keep it

WORKING POINT OF VIEW

WE BELIEVE
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BECAUSE
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THIS HELPS
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THE TRADE-OFF WE ACCEPT
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WE WILL REVISIT IT WHEN
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Before you use this

Do not manufacture evidence to make the position sound stronger. Mark beliefs as beliefs and observed facts as facts. The designer owns the stance, the trade-off, and the decision to revise it.

Can you use it?

Question: Why is a point of view different from a prediction?

Answer: It guides a decision now while naming the evidence that could change it later.

Next

A position sets direction; a loop gives you a way to move and learn.