For the past five years, I’ve been managing the entire design pipeline at UX3D, a company building 3D and immersive tech. Wireframing and UI layouts to marketing graphics and video editing—if it’s related to design, it lands on my desktop. 🎨🖥️
Being a solo designer has a huge plus point: You get a macro-view of the entire product ecosystem and the advantage of exploring wildly different directions without waiting for multiple rounds of approval. But here’s the flip side—when you can take a design in ten different directions, narrowing it down and picking that one final concept becomes a real bottleneck.
The Solo Designer’s Silent Challenge
Of course, I don’t work in a vacuum. I collaborate with my colleagues on a project-by-project basis, and they are incredibly helpful when I need a second pair of eyes. However, our focus areas are very different. When my tech colleagues look at a design, they are usually looking through the lens of technical feasibility, timelines, and logistics.
That feedback is super important to keep things realistic, but it doesn’t solve my creative confusion. Furthermore, they have their own heavy workloads, so they aren’t always available when I’m stuck. Plus, it’s not their job to debate over typography, icon styles, or subtle user flows. At the end of the day, the final creative decision is on me.
Because of this, when it came to core creative decisions, I was ultimately a team of one. ☝️ Until the landscape shifted.
Flowing with the Tech Shift
With new AI tools coming out almost every week, it’s easy to feel a bit overwhelmed by how fast things are moving. Initially, it did make me pause and wonder how our roles would evolve. I even felt a bit guilty at first—like I was cheating or outsourcing my own thinking by asking AI for help. 😅
But I soon realised this is just the new way of working. Instead of resisting the change, I chose to flow with it and see how these tools could support my process rather than replace it.
Over the last few months, tools like Claude, Gemini, and Perplexity have become a regular part of my routine. They haven’t replaced my human colleagues, obviously. Instead, they became a steady co-worker for those creative gaps—the moments where I used to get stuck on my own. Here’s how I use them, from concept to implementation: 👇
- 🧠 Filtering Concepts: When I brainstorm and come up with multiple design directions, I talk them through with Claude. Bouncing ideas off the chatbot helps me see the pros and cons objectively, so I can confidently choose which direction to zoom in on.
- 👀 Validating the User Perspective: Before finalising any layout, I use AI to check whether the logic is clear and intuitive. It helps me ensure the message and visual hierarchy actually make sense for the user before I pass it on.
- 🛠️ Figuring out 3D Workflows: Working at UX3D involves a complex software ecosystem. When I’m confused about which pipeline or tool will give the best output, AI helps me map out an efficient workflow.
- 💻 Bridging the Design-to-Code Gap: The latest models are actually crazy helpful. Their powerful code generation enables me as a non-techy to extend the range of my work significantly. Whether it’s generating UI components or helping with interactive prototypes, this new approach saves me a lot of time. I can quickly sync with my tech colleagues to make sure the code aligns with our project standards, and my AI tools bridge the gap perfectly between my Figma files and the live product — no more arguments over margins and colour shades! 😎
Efficiency, Not Isolation
Using AI doesn’t mean letting a machine do your creative job. For solo designers or generalists like me, it’s just a very efficient way to validate your instincts and speed up execution. It lets me keep my creative freedom while making sure my design decisions are solid—and these days, being a team of one doesn’t feel quite so solitary. 🚀