The existential dread of being a UX designer in the AI era.

Hi PH.

I’m Lily, a UX designer, and lately, I’ve been having a bit of an identity crisis.

With AI generating UI layouts in seconds, I’ve had to take a hard look in the mirror. If my only value is arranging boxes, picking hex codes, and making things look "pretty," then my job is already obsolete.

But my real fear isn't about AI taking my job. It’s the terrifying realization of how much of my career I’ve spent designing beautifully polished products that had absolutely no right to exist in the market. The absolute hardest part of this job isn't the friction of building; it's the deafening silence after you launch a mistake.

I’m slowly realizing that my true job isn't "designing screens" it’s "designing the justification" for why a product should even exist. I'm trying to force myself to fall in love with cold, ugly market data instead of beautiful Figma boards.

How are the other designers and builders here coping with this shift?

Where do you find meaning in your craft when the actual "execution" is becoming practically free?