Genesis: AI Predictive
Technology for Designers
Branding
UX / UI Research
Speculative Design
Team members
Joshua Garrett
Jordi Stephenson
Client
N/A​
Role
Interaction Designer, and Content Creation
Project Overview
The scope of the project involved creating and mapping out a product tailored for a specific population, with a focus on branding through visuals and messaging. Defining the company's mission, the product vision, and articulating the brand's voice. Together, my team and I developed Genesis—a design software that seamlessly integrates AI generation and iteration capabilities directly into a designer's workflow.
Year
2022 (5 weeks)
Problem Statement
How can we create a cohesive and compelling brand identity through curated language and visual design to effectively communicate the brand’s values, mission, and appeal to its target audience?
Defining the Brand
We began the brand creation process by drafting our Mission and Vision statements, which underwent several iterations.
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This helped us begin to clarify our values, services, target audience, and begin to gather inspiration for the visual identity, such as logo, colors, and photography.
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Brand: Genesis
is an AI brand for humans that is focused on the empowerment and education of designers
Mission Statement
Our mission is to empower designers with data through our philosophies, education, and AI-driven software to enhance workflows and find solutions.
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Vision Statement
Our vision is to unite design and data science in order to empower designers to thrive in a data-driven world, enhancing their natural creativity.
Defining the Audience
We then refined our audience by finding problem areas and identifying user wants, while also exploring innovative ways to integrate AI into the design process.
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Inspired by Helen Armstrong’s book, Big Data, Big Design, we used it to help synthesize our language and approach.
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Big Data, Big Design
Written by NC State professor Helen Armstrong, Big Data, Big Design examines how designers can leverage big data and AI to boost creativity and innovation.
Embracing Unpredictability
Incorporating elements of surprise and unpredictability in design fosters creativity and innovation beyond mere machine learning predictions.
Risks of Over-Design
Over-reliance on anticipatory machine learning can lead to uninspired, sterile designs and
the deskilling of designers.
Integrating
ML Carefully
Introducing machine learning into design processes requires caution to prevent oversimplification and to preserve the creative intuition.
Defining the Experience
Once we felt confident in our understanding, we started to visually hone our brand and curate its voice. We also began shaping the narrative and mapping out the user personas and their journeys.
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Genesis's Values
Be Human
Centered
We built our brand in response to AI's growth, prioritizing humanity as we adapt to new careers, with a focus on people at the core of design.
Elevate
Designers
Designers are irreplaceably human, and we aim to embrace new technology while empowering them to evolve in their roles.
Empower By Educating
To succeed, we must stay informed and share insights to help designers thrive in AI-driven environments, ensuring knowledge is accessible.
Personas
Gabriel - Iterate and Curate
Focuses on Client Relationships
Gabriel is a freelance designer who uses Genesis to streamline his design workflow, so he can prioritize focusing on building strong client connections.
Utilizing Genesis​
Gabriel leverages Genesis’ natural language processing and real-time data to quickly iterate on ideas, aligning them with local trends and client feedback for tailored results.
Myra - Accelerate and Evaluate
Overseeing Collaborative Design
Myra works as a creative director and is currently tasked to design a new shoe collection, managing her team’s input while ensuring seamless collaboration.
Utilizing Genesis​
Myra creates collaborative workspaces where her team can make edits, track progress, and iterate designs. While she maintains oversight, merges any changes, and integrates feedback.
Ben - Educate and Simulate
Overseeing Collaborative Design
Ben, a retired architect who is eager to design his dream home but feels a bit unmotivated and unfamiliar using modern tools after years of hard work.
Utilizing Genesis​
Through Genesis, Ben uploads a few rough blueprints and describes his ideal home which generates mockups. This allows him to finalize the design
and start on renovations within weeks.
Task Analysis
Touchpoint 1 - Our Voice
There is stigma around new machine learning tools, leaving designers concerned about their future.
Our role is to address these concerns while leading the way toward a future that empowers and inspires.
We embrace AI and support designers in thriving as directors solving larger challenges.
"Design's changing not leaving"
"We are in this together"
"Be the first of your kind"
"Extend the hand and lift others up"
"Using the unexpected as a resource"
"Use the tools that will craft the future"
"Empowering to thrive in a data driven world"
Touchpoint 2 - Generate 2024
Generate is our bi-annual event focused on educating and empowering designers to embrace AI and ML. Through expert talks, hands-on workshops, and online content, we inspire innovation in a data-driven world.
Empowerment Through Education
Genesis is more than software; it’s a brand focused on empowering designers in a data-driven world. Through our Generate event, website, and YouTube, we educate users to dispel AI fears and spark curiosity.
Face-to-Face Collaboration
Generate offers real-world interaction where attendees learn from expert speakers, join hands-on workshops, and engage in competitions. This space fosters collaboration, bridging data, science, art, and design.
Ongoing Learning and Networking
The Generate app helps attendees stay organized, access event content, and maintain connections. With post-event reviews and recordings, it ensures continuous learning and networking that goes beyond the summit.
Genesis Out n' About
Touchpoint 3 - Genesis Software
The Future of the Workspace
Generate, iterate, simulate, and curate all within a software that's smart and adapts the workspace to optimize your workflow towards your goal. Design and communicate with teams at a groundbreaking speed. Genesis is always just one click away and will help you address any issues and efficiently achieve your vision.
Ability to ask Genesis
to troubleshoot or help
with your project.
Simulation in real
world contexts and
data to support
Workspace that
can adapt and allows
for manual editing.
Trained datasets
that plug-in to elevate
the design process.
Team workflow
optimization and
time management.
Generative design
Technology to iterate
and spark new ideas.​
Designing in Genesis
Quick Start lets users access goal specific plug-ins from top-rated Genesis data sets, enabling faster achievement of desired outcomes.
The Genesis icon indicates to users that they can voice new prompts at any time.
View all past Genesis projects and who is collaborating on them.
Open recent projects from the start screen or click to start a new team.
Phone compatibility for quick idea generation.
Genesis pulls out keywords so it can best encapsulate your idea.
All processes are cloud-based, enabling efficient cross-platform workflows.
Generation and Curation
Genesis generates design ideas from natural language prompts, seamlessly adapting its interface to suit specific project needs, such as vector-focused designs.
Iteration and Refinement
Users can save, refine, and finalize their designs using Genesis's provided vector tools, with mockups generated effortlessly to achieve the ideal final product.
At any stage in the design process, Genesis is ready with an optimized design brief.
Generated Briefs
With Genesis, users can turn spontaneous inspiration into design iterations anywhere.
On The Go Designing
Collaborating in Genesis
Efficient Coordination
Genesis generates a design brief that users can edit and confirm, quickly inviting team members into the project with
all necessary information to ensure everyone is aligned
Seamless Oversight
As the project nears completion, users easily oversee all team member changes, curating which revisions to finalize and which need further adjustments.
A Speculative Project Flow
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Architectural Planning: Floor plans were generated and refined using real-world data for precise evaluations aligned with designer goals
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Optimization: Thousands of simulations identified the best solutions for the space.
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Art Selection: Leadership curated each step of the art selection and refinement process.
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Accelerated Construction: Real-time access to local landscape and environmental data sped up construction, reducing the project duration.
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Final Video
Final Thoughts
This project emphasized how carefully crafted language can communicate a brand's essence and mission, bridging the gap between what we built and how it was visually and verbally conveyed to users. While focused on branding, we explored the potential of AI in user-centric design, envisioning features like workflow adaptation and instant simulation as tools to enhance creativity and efficiency. Despite a speculative approach, balancing these aspects highlighted AI’s potential to empower, not replace, designers. By positioning AI as a supportive force, we explored its potential to empower designers to lead larger and more complex projects.