I had the honor of leading a workshop for Iowa State University’s HCI program and the AI Innovation Studio on AI in UX Design and Ethical Design Practices, and the outcome reminded me why this space matters so much.

Across the session, we walked through the foundations designers must understand as AI becomes an embedded layer in digital and physical products:

The Importance of Data in Designing for AI
Why data literacy is officially a design skill, and what it means to understand the downstream impact of training data.

Understanding the Challenges of AI
Bias, model opacity, risk, lifecycle oversight, and the very real gaps traditional design frameworks don’t address.

AI Ecosystem Mapping
How to visualize system components, dependencies, stakeholders, and the technical landscape designers now have to work within.

Ethical Design Analysis Through Frameworks
From risk mapping to alignment to lifecycle design: and why ethical evaluation must be woven in before a system ships, not after.

Putting It Into Practice
Critical thinking exercise and discussions on how designers can influence AI behavior through intentional structure and strategy by analyzing the ecosystem and impact of AI technologies.

Seeing the event marketed to students and staff across ISU and hearing thoughtful, future-minded critical thinking from the students and staff was energizing. The next generation of designers, engineers, innovators and business shapers are stepping into AI with curiosity and responsibility, and that gives me hope.