Dear Reader,

Today, it's time to tackle that AI tool everyone is talking about: Chat GPT...

Chat GPT (short for Chat Generative Pre-trained Transformer) is a natural language processing tool that is blowing up.

The tool got to a million users in only five days. To put that into context, Facebook took ten months, and Netflix took three years to get to a million users.

Q: How do I use Chat GPT in UX?

If you haven’t heard of Chat GPT, it’s your new robot assistant/overlord.

Here are the tasks that are ripe for AI assistance in UX design:

1.) Summarizing

a.k.a. asking Chat GPT to summarize a text

Who has time to read those whitepapers, industry blog posts, and user interviews? Chat GPT can give you TL;DR summaries of long text blocks.

Prompt examples for summarizing:

Summarize these user interview notes: [paste it here]
Write a TL;DR summary of this research report: [paste it here]
List the main takeaways from this survey data: [paste it here]

2.) Searching

a.k.a. seeking answers to basic questions using Chat GPT

Before there was Chat GPT, you had to use the first page of Google to get informed about a topic. Now you can understand common knowledge without diving through tons of websites.

Prompt examples for searching:

What are common issues with mobile apps?
What are the best practices for the design of voice interfaces?
What design patterns work best for a ride-sharing service?

3.) Researching

a.k.a. doing desk research with Chat GPT

Chat GPT is the best desk research tool on the planet. It’s particularly good at describing common knowledge. Chat GPT is a great place to start and end a research project.

Prompt examples for researching:

What’s a good user experience for a flight?
What underlying needs might busy founders have for grocery shopping?
How is gamification used in productivity apps?

4.) Inspiring

a.k.a. asking Chat GPT things to improve your design process

“What sort of design method works best for testing new ideas?” That’s an example of a question you might ask if you need inspiration about which design method to use. “What are some ways to design for mobile?” That’s another example of how you could be inspired during a design project.

Prompt examples for inspiring:

What kinds of UX methods will help me uncover user needs?
List some fun icebreakers for an online workshop.
Brainstorm ideas for an NFT website.

5.) Creating

a.k.a. asking Chat GPT to make stuff

Chat GPT is currently limited to text responses but is still very creative. You can ask it to generate wireframes, SVGs, and HTML code. All you need is the right prompts and context.

Prompt examples for creating:

Make a wireframe for a journaling app.
Create information architecture for a pregnancy tracking app.
Design an SVG icon for a doggy daycare service.
Code me a UX portfolio site.

6.) Personalizing

a.k.a. Asking Chat GPT to adapt content to specific types of people

Personalizing lets you customize your work to a specific character. Let’s say you want to write some micro-copy for a site. “Design me a wireframe for an interface that does taxes for a Virgo.” Adding “for a Virgo” here generates a practical and organized wireframe, the classic traits of a Virgo.

Prompt examples for personalizing:

Re-write this job ad to be more desirable for introverts.
Write button copy that will get undecided buyers to purchase.
Redesign Instagram for people with vision impairments.

7.) Roleplaying

a.k.a. asking Chat GPT to play a character

Chat GPT is very good at providing feedback or expertise while acting as various characters. The only limit is your imagination. You could have Chat GPT act as a Tech CEO, engineer, statistician, or even a user persona. All you need is a description of that character’s role, and you will have an instant approximation of the stakeholder. You can use this AI stakeholder to bounce ideas and get feedback on design work.

Prompt examples for roleplaying:

How would a dating app user like to be notified of a match?
Act like a CEO at a tech company. How should I ask you for feedback?
I can’t focus on my design work. Help me overcome this challenge in the style of a motivational design coach.