Raphael Schaad: AI design trends are homogenizing digital aesthetics, the pitfalls of AI-generated designs can detract from user experience, and effective hover effects are crucial for user engagement | Y Combinator Startup Podcast

Key takeaways

• AI design trends are becoming increasingly common, leading to a loss of originality in digital design.
• AI models often learn from popular design examples, which accelerates the spread of design trends.
• While AI-generated designs are easy to implement, they can sometimes detract from user experience.
• Certain AI-driven design elements may distract users rather than add value.
• Hover effects should enhance user interaction by making elements more inviting to click.
• Designers should avoid making clickable elements fade away on hover, as it contradicts user expectations.
• Using hover to disclose critical information is considered an anti-pattern in design.
• AI design tools make it easier than ever to create professional-looking sites.
• Nonstandard navigation can confuse users and negatively impact their experience.
• The use of emojis in design can appear lazy and unoriginal.
• AI’s reliance on generic design elements highlights the need for creativity in branding.
• The rapid propagation of AI-driven design trends can lead to a homogenized digital landscape.
• Effective design should prioritize user engagement over mere aesthetics.

Guest intro

Raphael Schaad is a Visiting Partner at Y Combinator and Head of Design for Growth at Notion, where he leads the Calendar and Mail products. He founded Cron, a next-generation calendar application that was acquired by Notion in 2022 after raising $3.5M in seed funding as part of the Y Combinator Winter 2020 batch. Previously, he worked as a designer and engineer at Flipboard and as a researcher at the MIT Media Lab, bringing deep expertise in design craft and user experience to his work avoiding common design pitfalls.

The impact of AI on design trends

• AI design trends are becoming ubiquitous, leading to a loss of originality.

  — Raphael Schaad

• AI models are trained on popular design examples, which accelerates the spread of design trends.

• It’s not so much that those inherently are bad… it’s that now they’re just so ubiquitous everywhere that they kind of lose all meaning and specialness and originality.

  — Raphael Schaad

• The rapid propagation of AI-driven design trends can lead to a homogenized digital landscape.
• AI’s influence on design trends emphasizes the need for originality in a rapidly evolving landscape.

• One of the key things was when there was a good website kind of establishing a trend… now with llms if there’s a good website with a purple gradient it makes it into the llm because the llm gets trained on like the good examples that get linked to a lot.

  — Raphael Schaad

• The spread of design trends through AI models highlights the importance of maintaining unique digital aesthetics.
• AI’s role in design underscores the need for designers to innovate beyond popular trends.

The pitfalls of AI-generated designs

• AI-generated designs can sometimes detract from user experience rather than enhance it.

• Just because we now can just because lms are kinda good at these type of like svg you know buildups or transforms doesn’t mean that it’s actually a good design and helps you convert potential you know visitors into into customers basically.

  — Raphael Schaad

• Certain design elements, while easy to implement with AI, may not add value and can distract users.

• I think it distracts from the rest of the page… you would only implement something like this because it was so easy to do but I don’t think it actually adds value.

  — Raphael Schaad

• The ease of implementing AI-driven designs does not guarantee effective user engagement.
• Designers must prioritize user experience over mere aesthetics when using AI tools.
• The potential pitfalls of using AI in design highlight the importance of thoughtful user interface design.
• AI’s convenience in design should not overshadow the need for meaningful user interactions.

Effective use of hover effects in design

• Hover effects should enhance user interaction by making elements more inviting to click.

• If you wanna add a css effect then you know make it maybe like a little pop maybe make it like one shade lighter or more active or add like a little glow around it but don’t make it go away.

  — Raphael Schaad

• Designers should avoid making clickable elements fade away on hover, as it contradicts user expectations.

• This is something that I think a designer would almost never choose to do… it makes no sense think about it that way.

  — Raphael Schaad

• Effective hover effects can improve user engagement by aligning with user interface expectations.
• The use of hover effects should prioritize enhancing user interaction rather than distracting from it.
• Thoughtful hover effects can contribute to a more intuitive and engaging user experience.
• Designers should consider user behavior when implementing hover effects in web design.

Critiquing common design practices

• Using hover to disclose critical information is an anti-pattern in design.

• I think it’s kinda like an anti pattern… if that’s all hidden behind hover then you know you’re just not as efficiently communicating the the functionality of your software.

  — Raphael Schaad

• Effective design should prioritize clear communication of software functionality.
• The critique of hover functionality highlights the importance of transparency in user interface design.
• Designers should avoid relying on hover effects to convey essential information.
• Clear communication in design is crucial for effective user interaction and engagement.
• The critique of common design practices emphasizes the need for thoughtful user interface design.
• Designers must prioritize user experience by avoiding anti-patterns in digital design.

The accessibility of AI design tools

• It’s easier than ever to create a professional-looking site using AI design tools.

• I think it’s easier than ever using ai design tools and lms to get a professional looking site there’s almost no excuse for not having it now.

  — Raphael Schaad

• The accessibility of AI design tools democratizes the creation of professional digital aesthetics.
• AI design tools offer unprecedented opportunities for creating high-quality digital experiences.
• The availability of AI design resources challenges designers to maintain high standards of quality.
• AI’s role in design underscores the importance of creativity in leveraging digital tools.
• The accessibility of AI tools highlights the need for innovation in digital design.
• Designers must navigate the balance between accessibility and originality in AI-driven design.

Navigating nonstandard navigation in web design

• The use of nonstandard navigation can confuse users on a website.

• So maybe kinda like a thing to take away here is that using this non kinda like nonstandard navigation is tripping us off a little bit.

  — Raphael Schaad

• Nonstandard navigation can negatively impact user engagement and usability.
• Effective navigation design should prioritize user familiarity and ease of use.
• Designers should be cautious of deviating from standard navigation practices.
• The critique of nonstandard navigation highlights the importance of intuitive user interfaces.
• Thoughtful navigation design can enhance user experience and engagement.
• Designers must consider user expectations when implementing navigation elements.

The role of originality in AI-generated content

• The use of emojis in design can come off as lazy and unoriginal.

• I feel like llms kind of take the easy path because they don’t have any ip really themselves they’re just like big models… they use like these standard icons everywhere and it’s just immediately kinda like a tell.

  — Raphael Schaad

• AI’s reliance on generic design elements highlights the need for creativity in branding.
• Originality is crucial for distinguishing digital content in a saturated market.
• The critique of AI-generated content emphasizes the importance of unique digital aesthetics.
• Designers must prioritize originality to stand out in an AI-driven design landscape.
• The role of creativity in design is essential for effective branding and user engagement.
• AI’s influence on design underscores the need for innovative approaches to digital aesthetics.