If you’re a budding business owner looking to grab attention with a slick mobile app, or you’re a bonafide UX writer searching for ways to boost your productivity and progress your career, artificial intelligence (AI) is your friend.
Like any tool or innovation, AI tools are only effective if they’re used, well, the right way. In the wrong hands, AI tools are a waste of time—but when used effectively—there’s a treasure trove of benefits just waiting to be explored.
If you’re a UX writer, designer or business owner looking to level up your efforts, grab attention, and get better results, knowing which AI tools to work with (and why) will push you ahead of the pack.
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And the good news is: I’m going to walk you through the best AI tools for UX design and writing right now.
But first, let’s consider how AI tools can help you improve your UX efforts.
This is strictly a roundup of products based on the top-rated/top-reviewed items in each category. As with all things, do your homework and your own research before making any purchase decisions. This post is not in any way considered an endorsement of any product.
How AI tools can help with UX design and content writing
AI is a hot topic of discussion for businesses right now. So, by getting to grips with AI tools, you’re likely to get a serious edge on the competition.
Now, if you’re looking to optimize UX design with AI tools, understanding the potential benefits is a good place to start.
By working with the right AI tools for your UX design and content writing projects, you’ll elevate your business in career in ways you never thought possible.
Here are the main ways AI tools will optimize your UX efforts.
Save time
Without a doubt, one of the biggest perks of using AI tools for UX design and writing is saving time.
With the ability to automate certain UX processes—from data analysis and A/B testing to creating design frameworks and generating visual assets (with a few swipes or clicks)—you’ll boost your overall productivity while getting the results you deserve.
See insights and patterns
When it comes to UX design or content writing, having access to the right insights is vital. Rather than sifting through piles of digital files or redundant data, the right UX-based AI tools will serve up visual insights on your writing or design efforts—the kind that offers actual value.
As a result, you’ll be able to spot design patterns or connect with data-driven insights that will help you identify blind spots and make targeted improvements to your design layouts, enhance your visual assets, test your creations or sharpen up your UX copy with ease.
Sharpen creativity
Using generative AI tools, you can work in harmony with artificial intelligence bots to develop head-turning design elements (including graphics, imagery, and videos) as well as snappy pieces of microcopy with ease.
You can use these AI-generated assets for UX design inspiration or as a working template for your copywriting efforts. Once you get into a groove with generative AI tools—you can use them to sharpen or complement your creative ideas—developing design concepts that offer maximum value while cutting through the noise.
Bonus tip: Get ahead of the game by checking out our user-friendly generative AI cheat sheet for small businesses.
Optimize UX design with AI: the tools you need to try
Now that you’re up to speed with the benefits of taking measures to optimize UX design with AI, let’s look at the types of tools that will lead you to UX success—according to different user experience disciplines.
AI tools for analysis
First up, we have analytics. As a UX designer or writer, taking a data-driven approach to your work is key. By working with the right AI tools for the job, you’ll be able to test your designs with different user groups more effectively—while spotting patterns you can leverage to your advantage.
To uncover behavioral trends and get to know your users better (resulting in sharper, more cohesive designs and copy), here are some AI tools to consider.
- FullStory: A user-friendly platform that allows you to analyze entire user journeys while uncovering opportunities to engage your users or improve certain designs or copy elements with ease.
- CrazyEgg: A detailed website analyzer that will tell you where your weak points lie and how to fix them. You can also use this AI-powered tool for lead generation, using the insights the platform serves up as inspiration for making your UX creations and content more accessible.
- Hotjar: An easy-to-master but extensive AI-driven interface that will help you drill deep into how your users interact with your content, along with essential data to help you meet your users’ needs head-on.
AI tools for planning
In addition to having a certain creative flair, UX writing and design take meticulous thought and logistical planning.
Naturally, this process can be very time-consuming—but there are tools that can help you with the planning phase of your UX design and writing projects in a big way. Let’s explore.
- Figma: As one of the number one digital UX design tools, Figma has no end of scope when it comes to creating wireframes, developing user journeys, and laying out, as well as testing content for a variety of apps, touchpoints, and platforms. The brand’s FigJam publication is packed with tips and hints on insights using its AI-powered tools and plugins to power up the process.
- Uizard: Packed with AI-generated templates that are interactive and customizable, this intuitive platform will help you plan and mockup appealing designs as well as targeted UX copy or content with ease. You can also map out projects and create vivid wireframes for your potential designs using Uizard’s savvy AI toolkit.
Rule of thumb for UX: More options, more problems.— Scott Belsky
AI tools for creative content
Now we move onto the creative side of the UX coin. Earlier, I mentioned generative AI tools and how effective they can be when creating visual assets, copy or written content.
When it comes to crafting words and visuals that are not only fluent and intuitive, but turn heads and spark engagement—using these generative AI tools will work wonders.
- ChatGPT: As one of the planet’s fastest-growing generative AI tools, you can create no end of effective UX copy, content, communications, design elements, and visuals by giving the platform prompts. Give GPT a detailed command, and it will create assets for your UX design projects which you can use for planning, inspiration or adding to your UX briefs or designs.
- Google Bard: The new conversational AI tool from Google, this is a generative platform that empowers you to ask questions based on certain topics, pieces of subject matter or concepts and receive multiple content drafts that you can edit or shape to perfection.
Related: Get in the game, small business owners: Generative AI is for you
Using AI tools to optimize UX design: essential tips
Now that you know the AI tools you need to optimize UX design and content, let’s explore some practical ways you can use these types of platforms to your advantage.
We’ll start with a little prompt on…prompts!
Use the right generative prompts
If you’re using generative AI tools like ChatGPT to create or develop UX copy or design assets, you need to get your prompts spot on.
By being direct and detailed with your generative AI prompts—while giving the platform as much context as possible in what you’re trying to create or achieve, you’ll end up with some that meet or even exceed your expectations.
Here are a few generative AI prompt tips for your consideration.
- Define exactly what you want to achieve and create as well as the reason why.
- Dig a little deeper into the specific subject matter, image, asset or content you want to create. Rather than just saying, “write me a welcome message for my app” for example, you could start with, “write a short, snappy welcome message for my fitness tracker app that inspires people to get active and log their daily steps.”
- Tell the platform exactly what tone you’re going for e.g. “fun and witty” or “punchy and academic.”
- Prepare for a conversation with your chosen platform. You may need to bounce back off your AI bot and keep refining your prompts or commands until you get exactly what you want or need.
Check out our essential 101 guide to writing effective prompts for AI to sharpen up your skills.
Gather behavioral data to improve your UX designs
When you’re using smart AI tools like Hotjar for your UX design optimization efforts, it’s important to gather your insights from trusted as well as relevant sources.
That way, you’ll connect with the visual information that will empower you to identify weak spots within your UX content or design journey while getting under the skin of your users.
Here are some sources or methods you can use to gather quality data for your UX optimization efforts.
- Apply AI-generated heat mapping tools to your user journeys across touchpoints to uncover any points where your users commonly disengage, overlook certain messaging or get stuck.
- Launch two slightly different versions of the same app journey or landing page to see which one performs the best. Doing so will allow you to make targeted tweaks that will give your users the best possible experience while earning better results.
- Launch open-ended surveys to collect feedback on your current UX offerings and use your AI tool of choice to collate the response into a summary that will give you a clear understanding of what you need to do to optimize your design or content.
Develop interactive mockups and wireframes
Leveraging platforms like Figma, you can create vivid mockups and wireframes of your designs using clever automated features, sorting tools, and even in-built generative tools.
To get the most from planning and AI design tools like Figma, you should get to grips with the features by creating a test design while exploring every tutorial and how-to available.
Armed with the confidence and knowledge to use your tool effectively, you can:
- Organize your brainstorming sticky notes into definitive categories autonomously
- Enter relevant generative prompts for specific design assets or pieces of copy as you work through your designs for speed, fluency, and clarity
- Work in harmony with your tool, being open to the help and autonomous suggestions it offers as you work on your copy or designs. You can use these platform-generated prompts to add placeholder assets to your wireframes or design boards, refining them to fit with your overall theme, style, tone, and project goals. The lesson here? Don’t fight it, feel it.
UX and AI: final thoughts
Design creates culture. Culture shapes values. Values determine the future.— Robert L. Peters
Working with AI tools will give you the vision as well as the inspiration you need to level up your UX designs and communications.
Not only can you uncover insights and trends that would usually pass under your nose, but you’ll also be able to optimize key aspects of your website or mobile app’s user experience with speed, confidence, and clarity.
Rather than relying solely on these tools to do the job for you, work in harmony with them, applying your experience and knowledge to optimize your UX designs in ways you never before thought possible. You’ve got this.
