Towards Reflective Incorporation of Generative AI in Design Practice and Education

Abstract

This paper examines the experiences of novice designers as they incorporate generative AI (GAI) technologies into their design processes. We aim to investigate how novice designers engage with GAI technologies, how these tools transform the design thinking process, and how designers’ beliefs and practices shift with continued use. Previous research has revealed both benefits and risks of GAI incorporation, including efficiency gains, cognitive offloading, loss of ownership, and diminished critical thinking. However, little is known on how working with GAI is actually experienced by novice designers actively engaged in the learning process.

To explore this, we conducted a study spanning 14 weeks with 11 international User Experience Design students, completing a series of design activities in which different GAI tools (LLMs and text-to-image models) were incorporated. They were encouraged to experiment and reflect on their processes and, upon completion, report on their experience in semi-structured post-interviews. The semi-structured interviews were analysed through reflexive thematic analysis.

Findings reveal that an effective incorporation of GAI tools in creative design practice is not a straightforward process. Rather, it develops gradually. We uncovered novice designers’ beliefs, conceptualisations, and intentions of incorporating GAI technologies evolve with their reflective involvement with the tools. Initial perceptions of the technology as inherently powerful shift with a better understanding of the role of the tools within design practice, through experience and engagement. Two intention-driven uses of GAI were identified: using GAI as an efficiency enhancer and as a performance enhancer, intentions that imply different impacts on learning outcomes. These shifts are accompanied by substantial changes in designers’ cognitive approaches, as the interaction design of GAI tools imposes constraints on both creativity and problem-solving.

These insights inform future educational strategies that support metacognitive awareness, foster intentional use, and support cognitive resilience.