Designing an AI-Powered Automation System


Designing an AI-Powered Automation System

by Jeff Humble


Dear Reader,

This week, I want to share something I use behind the scenes.

I want to share something very nerdy that I've been working on πŸ€“

It's an automation system that I'm using to experiment with AI.

If you've ever used a tool like Zapier, then you might like this sort of thing.

I built it with Discord and Activepieces, and it's completely free. It looks like this:

Here are some of the use cases:

  • Work Automation - a productivity tool for solopreneurs, freelancers, or anyone who wants to manage their work outside of email
  • Research Operations - a dedicated space to manage all of your interview scheduling, feedback forms, and continuous discovery
  • Tracking Projects - a dedicated channel to get everyone on your team or project involved where you can track progress or metrics
  • Community Hub - a dedicated platform for a specific craft or group that can share updates, tasks, and culture

If you've been having AI anxiety, I can tell you from personal experience fiddling with tools and automating stuff will make you feel better.

And becoming the automation expert at your company certainly won't hurt your career!

This is a new type of content for this newsletter, so please comment or reply if you liked it!

​Source​

This AI tool called Relume is gaining popularity. It's interesting because it does for wireframing what Uizard does for high-fidelity mockups. With a simple prompt, you can generate a wireframe that will export into Figma or Webflow.

Every aspect of the product design process seems to be slowly getting a dedicated AI tool. What do you think? Would you use a prompt-based AI tool to generate a wireframe or a sitemap?


WORKSHOP: Aligning with Strategy
​
Get a crash course in strategy from Jeff Humble in 3 hours
July 15, 2026 @ 18:00 CEST
​Buy a Seat​


COURSE: Facilitating Workshops
​
Learn to turn meetings into momentum and clear decisions.​
​
Next cohort: Autumn 2026​
​
Join Waitlist​


COURSE: Defining UX Strategy
​
Learn to design a winning strategy that aligns design with business.​
​
Next cohort: Autumn 2026
​
Join Waitlist​

​

Until next time! βœŒοΈπŸ€–

Jeff Humble
​Designer & Co-Founder
​
The Fountain Institute

​

The Fountain Institute

The Fountain Institute is an independent online school that teaches advanced UX & product skills.

Read more from The Fountain Institute
Fountain Institute Vision

How the Fountain Institute Started and Where It's Going by Jeff Humble Dear Reader, In case you missed it, Hannah dropped a pretty big announcement in the last newsletter. I wanted to tell the story of how the Fountain Institute started, why we’ve never had an β€œAbout Us” page, and where I think we’re headed next. How it started The Fountain Institute started when two friends decided to grab a beer and work...then kept doing it for 7 years. There were many false starts along the way. Starting...

A goodbye and the story that goes with it By Hannah Baker Dear Reader, There's an idea I've been chasing for most of my working life, and I didn't know it. I want to tell you about it, and about something that happened a few years ago that I haven't talked about much publicly, but that belongs in this story. Some of you might already know this about me, but I used to work in education departments at museums. The thing that grabbed me in the museums was a shift that happened, away from the...

7 Ways Hiring is Evolving for Senior Designers by Jeff Humble Dear Reader, 2026 has been a wild ride for product designers, so we thought it might be worth checking in to see what's changing about design hiring. There has never been a better time to think outside the box with your career strategies. In this article, we give you a playbook from various experts where every piece of advice is from this year. Get comfortable with live problem-solving. Shipped, traceable work beats case studies....