Does AI Save Time on Product Design? A Randomized Controlled Experiment of AI Prompt-to-Design Workflows
A 100-person trial found Figma Make cut design-task time about 20%, more so for product managers.
Researchers ran a randomized controlled trial with 50 product designers and 50 product managers to test prompt-to-design workflows. Participants attempted three standardized design tasks with or without access to Figma Make. Among people who finished, Figma Make was associated with about 20% shorter completion times, with larger gains for product managers. The authors say benefits for professional designers may depend on the task.
- Trial included 50 product designers and 50 product managers.
- Participants did three standardized tasks with or without Figma Make.
- Completers were about 20% faster when they had Figma Make.
- Product managers gained more time savings than professional designers.
Full article136 words · extracted from arxiv.org · click to collapse
AI tools for digital product design now offer prompt-to-design capabilities, allowing designers and their non-designer colleagues to create prototypes through conversational workflows with large language models (LLMs). While these tools promise time savings, experimental evidence in product design remains limited compared with evidence from software engineering. We conducted a randomized controlled trial with 50 product designers and 50 product managers to evaluate prospective time savings from leveraging Figma Make in design work. Participants attempted three standardized design tasks with or without access to Figma Make. Among participants who completed the study tasks, access to Figma Make was associated with approximately 20% shorter completion times, with larger gains among product managers. Our findings suggest that prompt-to-design tools may enable product managers to further contribute to design work, while the benefits for professional designers may be task dependent.
Text extracted automatically; images, tables and formatting may be missing. Original: https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.26725