Thank you so much for making your time
to be here. It was really beautiful day
out here. I landed in New York on
Monday. It's been so cold since then and
this was the most beautiful day I've
seen since I got here. So, I'm really
glad that all of you decide to be here.
Hope you can make a meaningful time
together. As Brian just uh gave a very
warm introduction, I'm Hi. I'll be the
first presenter of the event today. And
uh what I'm going to talk about is the
timely skills product designers need now
in 2026.
So on that note um before I jump into
topic I wanted to talk a little bit
about myself or quite a bit about
myself. Um I am currently a senior
product designer at Lyft. That photo on
the left was taken at the New York
office a couple of days ago when I was
visiting. And uh before Lyft I was at
Capital One. That's the photo on the
right. When I was at Capital One office
and before these two companies, I was at
different fintech startups, sometimes
B2B companies or sometimes 10% startups,
too. And fun fact, these photos are two
years apart, but I was wearing the exact
same vest. So, I guess I really like
wearing it when I go to the office. A
little more formal than what I normally
wear.
And uh outside of my nineto-five job, I
am a content creator uh influencer. Um
so I started this a year ago. Um I got
blessed by algorithm. So I'm glad the
account grew very fast and it's been a
really interesting um challenging
journey. I found it really difficult to
understand like what people want to see
from me but at the same time I really
like the feeling of connecting with
people. Yes, internet has its own harms
but at the same time um when I feel
connected with people I just see the
more brighter side of it. And a little
more about my background. I am
originally from Korea. The photo on the
left is when I graduated from my
undergrad in Korea. And the photo on the
right, I'm based in Toronto, Canada, but
the photo is actually in the New York
City that I took last year. So, um I I'm
based in Toronto in Canada. Uh I have
been moving around a lot in Canada, but
that's where I am now. So, on that note,
let's get into the topic. I wanted to
start with this question. What do you
think is on every product designer's
mind these days? Like literally every
day all of the product designers think
about Yes, you're right. AI. Um, but not
just AI, AI dot dot dot crying face.
That's how I feel about it and that's
how I found most of the product
designers feel about it or honestly most
of people feel about these days no
matter they are in the tech industry or
in in different industries. And um when
I think about AI, these are the memes I
found resonating. Claude just dropped
another update and I start tearing up
and they literally drop updates like
every day if it's not every the other
day and I was learning and I'm like I
was just catching up on and you just
dropped new one. I have to learn it
tonight otherwise I'm going to be behind
on it. And the next meme I found is me
trying to keep up with the 100 new AI
design tools launched every day. So me
focusing on one new AI tool while there
are a ton of AI other tools like
drowning and I'm like oh my gosh they're
all dying I don't have time for all of
them. So that's how I genuinely feel and
uh I found a lot of designers in these
industries uh feel that way. So going
back to this AI dot dot dot I don't
think it's just this fancy tools that we
pay a lot of attention to. um they're
all really great tools have been
democratizing a lot of skills that was
limited to um specific experts but at
the same time I think on the other side
of this bright side is something deeper
and something more emotional and these
are all the honest thoughts that I found
we share which is like when is my job
getting replaced is product design going
to be a thing like in five years like
dang I know nothing about AI and seems
like I'm behind of everyone and like
what the heck another update like I
should learn about it or everything I
learned last month is too old now. Let's
say last month maybe I could tell my
corkers like this is a new AI tool I
learned you all got to do it but now
it's old now. um and I don't know how to
keep up with it and again the thought
around like aren't we all just getting
unemployed soon like when is it
happening and some exhaustion coming
from it and uh I want to say the reality
is this is not just our anxiety this is
not just our anxious thought or
delusional thought this is the reality
these are some of the articles I found
released from like a couple of months
ago or this month um layoff in tech
always always has been a thing but now
AI is accelerating it even more. It's
driving it even further. I have a lot of
friends who got uh laid off like this
year and honestly I wake up thinking
like maybe it's going to be next like
the reality is there. So for that
reason, we spend a lot of time like
learning new AI tools like out of FOMO
like I don't want to get laid off laid
off like maybe if I learn AI tools more
maybe I'm going to get laid off later
than most of people in the industry. So
we spent a lot of time learning it which
is great um catching up with what's
happening in the industry but at the
same time I want us to like pause here
for a couple of minutes and actually
take a step back um beyond just learning
new AI tools because
getting better at AI tools and picking
up more AI knowledge itself doesn't
solve all the problems. Yes, it's there.
we got to learn it. But that's not the
only thing we need to do now.
So on that note, as we take a step back,
I want us to think about what AI is
actually good at versus what AI is bad
at. They're not perfect at everything.
So what AI is good at, they're good at
analyzing data data or recognizing
pattern as we all know. They're really
good at skimming through like really
massive data sets and finding the
patterns and similarities and anomalies
and telling us the analysis result much
faster than the human. And second thing
um they're really good at automating
repet repetitive tests such as naming
all the Figma layers. It used to be
frame one 05 but then now they named
into like something more useful or
writing the code or building a prototype
based on the existing UX patterns.
They're really good at it. They're also
really good at re combining existing
ideas, pulling in um everything they
have seen the world and turning into
what I was looking for. But at the same
time, AI is bad at those three things.
Understanding nuance. AI is really bad
at understanding like sarcasm or passive
aggressiveness. If it's aggressive,
they're going to pick it up because it's
very direct. But passive aggressiveness
that's so subtle, they're also bad at
picking up the humor. like something
that humans can read the room and
understand from something very subtle.
AI is not really good at that. And
second thing is AI is bad at having a
common sense. I believe all of us
experience like using chat and you tell
it to do something but it's just not
following the common sense and now you
have to verbalize everything that you
thought is very common and normal and AI
does not understand it. And third thing
AI is bad at is handling unfamiliar
scenarios. So how AI functions is again
pulling in what they have seen out there
and then respond to what they see here.
But if it's a very new situation they
didn't get any input on they are going
to be very bad at responding to it. But
beyond what AI is bad at I want us to
think about what AI cannot do. So this
is beyond what they're bad at. First is
creating original ideas. AI will never
give you something that has not existed
in the world. That's just how AI is
built. So it will it probably can draw
your portrait in the style of Picasso or
Van Go in a very similar way similar
way. But then it will never draw your
portrait in the art style that has never
existed in this world because AI is not
going to create it. And second thing AI
cannot do is building trust or
relationship. So think about like who
you trust or have good relationship
with. It comes from the risk and
vulnerability you have with that people.
you know that oh this person acts like
that when they have a bad day and they
make a mistake and they this is how they
apologize this is how you make it up to
so trust trust and relationship is
coming from the vulnerability and AI has
does not have that that's why AI is not
going to be responsible or accountable
accountable for any tasks you do at work
and last thing AI cannot do is
empathizing or motivating so the empathy
that AI shows is based on what they
learn They simulate the emotional
reaction, but it's not that they're
going to feel the feeling you share with
AI. Um, and also it's not going to
motivate you. Think about how many times
Chachi Pitty told you this is an
excellent question and you didn't feel
flattered, right? It tells you like this
is such a great idea and you're like,
yeah, of course you tell me all the
time. You don't feel it compared to if a
human tells you, hey, that was a really
great question. You're like, oh, maybe I
ask a great great question. Right? So
empathizing and motivate AI is not going
to do it. And uh what the reason I have
been talking about this is there's three
things AI cannot do. It goes into one
skill which is storytelling. And that's
the number one skill I would want us to
focus on.
In terms of storytelling, this is the
quote I really like. It's very cliche.
It's probably overly used um quote in
marketing world. So it says facts tell
but stories sell. I found this quote
really applicable to any industry that
we can think of. So facts the screens we
design, the codes we write, um the
prototype we built, it's going to tell
the number. Yes, it's going to tell
something the fact, but what helps you
sell it is the story. So story really
goes a long way. And on that note, um,
going back to this AI tools that we
looked into earlier as these tools and
many many other tools are available,
anyone can build anything. I'm a
designer now. I can launch an app
without talking to an engineer. And an
engineer can design something without
talking to me at all. So, anyone can
build everything. Cool. And uh in this
age
because everyone can build everything.
It's not about building fast or many
anymore. Everyone can do it like um any
time like overnight while you're
sleeping. So it being fast or being many
what you built it's not going to be a
gamecher. But what matters now is how
you're going to sell it. It's about how
you're going to sell it through your
stories. And storytelling is the best
way to sell something.
And on that note, what do you think is a
really good story? Like what's the story
that you're like, "Ah, that story was
really, really good." And uh to be more
specific, how can we make a good story
for our audience? Something that will
help our audience to remember it and
feel something out of it. And I would
say the clearest sign of a good story is
when the audience roots for the
protagonist success. you see the
protagonist is struggling and then
you're like, "Oh, I feel for them. I
want them to be successful. I want them
to succeed." So, that's a clear sign
when um the presenter delivered a really
good story.
And I found superhero story is a really
great example for that. Um I got the
photos of the Marvel. Um I grew up in
Korea. I didn't much I didn't watch uh
much of Marvel stories, but whichever
background you have, every culture has
their own superhero story. So what does
this um superhero story does is they
follow the hero's journey. You think
about every superhero that you can think
of and then they start with some kind of
conflict. Maybe they got abandoned by
the parents or the world is falling
apart or now they got kicked out of the
village they grew up in. Um so that
first part is the conflict and now they
have the failed attempts. They try to do
something like oh let me save the world.
Let me be a nice person. let me help
other people and uh a lot of those
attempts go into failure and then last
step is the breakthrough. They make
their final action and finally works and
that's how we enter the phase of like
everyone happily lived ever after. So
the hero's journey consists of this
three factors and uh I now want to talk
about how can we actually replicate this
at work. Okay, the hero's journey is
really good, but how can we position
ourselves like that at work?
So this is the structure I just showed
you. So the hero's journey consists of
first conflict and if second step is
failed attempts. Not all the things have
failed attempts and in that case we got
to talk about the cost of conflict and
then last step is breakthroughs and
applying this to work. Conflict means
the business or user problem or the
problem that your team has experienced.
And failed attempts means past
initiatives that your team or other
teams worked on and did not pan out. Or
if you don't have failed attempts, you
it's your time to talk about the cost of
conflict, which is the negative impact
of the problem. And you can really
expand on how bad the problem was, like
how severely it was affecting the team
and the business. And last step, it's
time for you to position you, your team,
and your project as the breakthrough.
See, I'm positioning this amazing
project as the final solution that's
solving all the problems that other
teams could not solve. So, that's the
step you're going to go through and I
want to drop a very specific example so
you can apply it to your working
situation.
So let's say we're presenting a project
at work and uh we can introduce it as
this project is to reduce the churn
rate. It's fine. Yeah, it's it's okay.
Yeah, it's just the work statement
you're going to going to hear from any
work. It's fine. It does the job. But
the audience is not going to really
engage with their story. Behind your
Zoom call, they have some kids crying
next to them or they have some coffee
machine like just breaking down or maybe
the car on the street is really loud.
They're going to listen to you, but
they're not going to really focus on you
or like engage with the project that
you're going to share. So, what you can
do is following this the hero's journey
um framework. So, first is conflict.
We're going to talk about in this
meeting we're going to talk about the
problem the business has been
experiencing in the past three quarters.
We have been seeing consistent drop off
of users 15%
every month after three months of
signing up to our product. This has been
costing to our business a lot. To be
more specific, it created a loss of this
many dollars of marketing every month.
So this marketing budget gets wasted
because marketing team spends a lot of
money on acquiring new users and uh
improving the brand awareness. So people
have better awareness of the brand and
then more people get interested in
joining our product. Well, that money
got wasted and past projects like this
project or that project did not
meaningfully improve the churn rate and
from those failed uh attempts we learned
that what actually mattered is this xyz
meaningful insight
and leveraging this important lesson and
we're going to the breakthrough part. We
discovered that users who turned
consistently did this very unique
behavior especially after two weeks of
acquisition. So our learning is that oh
this two weeks of acquisition after that
um that's the best time for us to tackle
this user churn problem. So for that
reason our project targeted that unique
behavior we found from users and res
resulted in reducing the churn rate by
8%. And from now on I'm going to walk
you through the design solution we
built. And from there your audience will
be like oh oh your team tried something
and you failed and like oh this is the
best solution you found. They already
gone through the here's journey very
quickly in a way that they will get more
interested in the story you were talking
about.
So going back to this slide I said
earlier um when the audience roots for
the protagonist success you have to
think of it as when you apply to work
the audience is your stakeholder your
manager or product manager engineers or
CTO CEO everyone you have to get the buy
in from um for your project to be
successful and the protagonist here is
you or your project or your team in a
way that your stakeholder will be like,
"Oh, I want this team's project to be
successful. I want their stuff to go
well." So, that's how you can apply um
the trait of a good story um into the
project that you're working on.
So, going back to the structure,
I want to say the most important part is
the second one. failed attempts, cost of
conflict, like all the ugly side that
you normally don't want to talk about,
especially at work because it doesn't
sound great, but that's what makes a
story really, really, really
interesting. Imagine there's just a flat
perfect story like, oh, there was a
problem and I solved it immediately and
you're like, yeah, okay, good for you.
But if you saw someone or the team
struggling through something, then
that's how the audience starts rooting
for you. And I want to tell you that
this is the part AI cannot generate. You
have all these ugly sides because you
are the living human living in this
world and making the mistakes out of it.
And AI is not going to create that for
you because AI is not just walking
around running into all the people with
different personalities and like unique
problems of the team. And at this point
you may think like but AI can write me a
story. I asked Claude yesterday night
and wrote me a pretty good story. like
what about that? And I want to tell you,
yes, it will write you a story, but
that's something nonoral that's copy and
pasted and perfectly polished. And think
about a very perfectly polished story.
You're not going to engage with it. It's
very flat. And since it's copy and
pasted, maybe it will pull in some
articles that someone wrote about the
work conflict they wrote about. they'll
maybe uh recombine that into the story
that you can copy, but it's not going to
give you an original story because AI
was not at your work talking to your
co-workers and your managers. They're
not doing it for you. So, I want to tell
you the most interesting part of your
story comes from the your originality.
And out of your originality, what people
find most interesting are usually not
the beautiful sides like, oh, I got
promoted to this role. I moved to this
company, I got a raise by this much. All
the beautiful sides is like, yeah, okay,
great. But like they don't have strong
emotional engagement to it. What people
had the strongest interest in is the
ugly sides. Such as what you and your
team were struggling with and how did it
affected the team in a negative way. um
what you or the team like
misinterpreted, what was an oversight,
what was the mistake you you made and
why was there a conflict and how did you
convince the team and what were all the
push backs and frictions you experienced
along the way? So as you share this,
this is what makes your story much more
engaging, unique and compelling.
So now I got this blank slide. I was
thinking a lot about how I could wrap up
what I have prepared for you and give
you one takeaway to step away with when
you leave this room later and uh I
decided to go back to my originality
which is my background in Korean. And
this is the expression I really like in
Korean. I'll read it as
and that means if I translate it word by
word it means to move move people's
hurts and to be more contextual. means
to resonate with somebody. You touch
them emotionally or you inspire them or
you sometimes steer something in the
people. So that's the expression that I
really like and I wanted to tell you a
good story is the one that moves
people's hurt. Story is a really great
tool to engage someone emotionally which
AI a lot of times lack at. So this is a
one quote I hope you can remember as the
only takeaway out of my talk is the
stories that move people's hurts um come
from your lived experience and your
originality story again is a really
great tool. So how I hope you can
leverage it as something that really
unique to you that you cannot replicate
or ask AI to generate even tonight um
when you go back home brush your teeth
and lie down on your bed you probably
will forget about most of the things I
talked about and in a few weeks or a few
months you probably would have forgotten
about me or how I looked where this was
exactly but if my story moved your heart
you will remember the feeling and story
is a really strong way to give you
certain feeling and that's how you build
something that's going to get remembered
by people. Thank you so much for
listening.