Beyond Automation: How UI/UX Designers Perceive AI as a Creative Partner in the Divergent Thinking Stages

TL;DR

This study investigates how UI/UX designers perceive and use AI within divergent thinking activities, addressing a gap in understanding AI as a creative partner rather than a task automator. Through 19 in-depth interviews and inductive thematic analysis, the authors identify four key roles for AI: aiding research, kick-starting creativity, generating design alternatives, and modifying prototype fidelity for feedback. Findings show designers value AI that enhances control, collaboration, and efficiency while preserving human-driven creativity, with many favoring integration of AI directly into existing design tools and visual interfaces. The work offers practical design opportunities for AI tools to better support divergent thinking in UI/UX design and highlights considerations around efficiency, ownership, prototype fidelity, and non-text interaction modalities. Overall, the paper advances our understanding of AI-enabled creativity in design practice and guides future tool development toward more collaborative, context-aware, and artistically driven AI assistants.

Abstract

Divergent thinking activities, like research and ideation, are key drivers of innovation in UI/UX design. Existing research has explored AI's role in automating design tasks, but leaves a critical gap in understanding how AI specifically influences divergent thinking. To address this, we conducted interviews with 19 professional UI/UX designers, examining their use and perception of AI in these creative activities. We found that in this context, participants valued AI tools that offer greater control over ideation, facilitate collaboration, enhance efficiency to liberate creativity, and align with their visual habits. Our results indicated four key roles AI plays in supporting divergent thinking: aiding research, kick-starting creativity, generating design alternatives, and facilitating prototype exploration. Through this study, we provide insights into the evolving role of AI in the less-investigated area of divergent thinking in UI/UX design, offering recommendations for future AI tools that better support design innovation.