Figma's product design VP, Noah Levin, said he expects more from candidates in the AI era.
Figma
Figma's design boss said product design candidates need to do more to keep him interested during interviews.Noah Levin told Business Insider on Thursday that AI tools now allow product designers to create polished, interactive prototypes, and that it's raised the bar for what he expects from potential hires. Levin has been the vice president of product design at the San Francisco-based tech company for more than eight years.He said that a decade ago, it was hard to find designers who could "produce an idea that really felt like the real product," largely because of their lack of technical know-how. Before AI, it would have taken designers too much effort to produce 10 interactive, working design prototypes, and the effort would not have been worth their time."What's changed a lot is that AI has made it possible to prototype your ideas in record time without technical knowledge and detail," Levin said.So he now expects every job candidate to be able to express their designs in the "highest fidelity possible." Fidelity in user interface and experience refers to the level of detail and accuracy in design prototypes.Levin said he wants to see design candidates be up to date with the latest AI tools, saying, "We like to see that people have experimented with new tools and that they're not lagging behind in how they work."That does not mean that they can simply "AI slop a bunch of prototypes" and showcase them in the interview process, he said. The role of a designer — to solve user problems and have good craft — has not changed, so he said he needs to see candidates bring themselves into their work and "not just rely on the default outputs."
