Taking Responsibility in the Age of AI
Taking Responsibility in the Age of AI
Design Leads Organizations through Five Urgent Challenges
In 2023, researchers from the Institute of Design at Illinois Tech (ID) spoke with design leaders and business executives from a range of high-profile organizations about the most daunting imperatives they face today, and in the process learned why—and how—design can have the transformational impact required to thrive in the age of AI.
This report asks—and answers—the following questions:
- What are the five most urgent challenges organizations face today?
- How can design and designers convert these challenges into opportunities? How does design take responsibility?
- For each challenge, what insights from our study participants—business leaders and design professionals—help clarify the road ahead?
We found that design can help today’s leaders leverage AI and satisfy other unprecedented consumer expectations of technologies and brands.
Contents
Introduction
Mark Jones, Associate Professor of User Research and Service Design, Institute of Design
The Five Urgent Challenges
Five urgent organizational challenges that organizations face today call out for the attributes designers bring to every strategic endeavor.
Designers and design leaders are agile, creative people who use partnerships (systems thinking skills and collaborations) and good design practice (effective working methods) to realize executive vision and facilitate an efficient process through the functions of the organization.
Partnerships & Practice
Each of the five organizational challenges calls out for the attributes designers bring to every strategic endeavor.
Designers and design leaders are agile, creative people who use partnerships (systems thinking skills and collaborations) and good design practice (effective working methods) to realize executive vision and facilitate an efficient process though the functions of the organization.
Leverage partnerships and practice to take responsibility and respond to today’s five urgent challenges.
Our Research
The research findings summarized here are based on qualitative interviews conducted by ID graduate researchers with 29 design and business professionals listed, along with their titles and organizations at the time of their interviews.*
Peter Zapf
Director of Partnerships and Strategic Initiatives
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