Human-Centred Design in the Age of AI: Reflections from a Design Leaders Panel at LDF2026
Consumers appreciate good design. But do they care whether a human designed it?
16 September 2026
That was one of the most thought-provoking questions raised during a recent panel discussion exploring the future of design, AI, sustainability and customer experience.
The event, a longstanding fixture in the design calendar, brought together leaders from across the creative, technology and sustainability sectors to discuss what many described as a modern survival guide for designers.
Representing tangerine, Geraint Edwards, Chief Growth Officer, joined Frankie Hewitson, CEO of The Frank Co., Rich Cahill, formerly of Lovable, IDEO and Arrival, and Jack Haslehurst, VP of Design & Experience at Cleo.
The discussion explored the impact of artificial intelligence on creativity, innovation, intellectual property, customer behaviour and sustainability, while also examining the changing role of designers in an increasingly AI-enabled world.
AI is raising the floor, but not replacing designers
One theme emerged repeatedly throughout the discussion: AI is making creation easier and faster than ever before.
Designers can now prototype, test and build ideas at unprecedented speed. Yet while AI is transforming how work gets done, it does not eliminate the need for design expertise.
As one panellist observed, AI can make a good designer better, but it can also make a bad designer worse.
The tools themselves are becoming increasingly capable, but they do not replace judgement, critical thinking, research or lived experience. As design outputs become easier to generate, the value of design thinking becomes even more important.
The challenge for designers is no longer simply creating solutions. It is understanding which solutions are worth creating in the first place.
Designing for new behaviours
The panel also explored how breakthrough technologies create entirely new user behaviours.
The launch of the iPhone in 2007, followed by the App Store, fundamentally changed how people interacted with products and services. AI appears to be following a similar trajectory, moving from novelty, to utility, to something that may eventually become indispensable in everyday life.
This raises an important question:
What behaviours are we designing for next?
As intelligent systems become more capable, digital experiences may shift from navigating multiple screens and applications towards outcome-led interactions. Increasingly, users may ask for a result rather than complete a process themselves.
For designers, this represents a significant shift. It requires new thinking around trust, transparency, personalisation and experience quality.
Why research and rigour matter more than ever
A particularly important discussion focused on the relationship between speed and quality.
AI can accelerate creation, but it cannot validate assumptions.
As a result, there is growing importance in helping clients understand the continued value of research, testing and evidence-based decision-making. Faster outputs do not eliminate the need to verify solutions or understand people’s real needs.
The conversation highlighted the importance of making design thinking more visible, demonstrating not only what has been designed, but why those decisions have been made.
Rigour remains a critical part of the process.
Design is not simply producing a compelling outcome. It is understanding people, asking the right questions and validating the right answers.
Experience design remains deeply human
The discussion naturally connected to Tangerine’s own work designing end-to-end experiences across aviation, transportation, hospitality and cultural destinations.
Increasingly, successful design is less about individual products or touchpoints and more about choreographing complete journeys.
Whether creating passenger experiences, visitor destinations or hospitality environments, the goal is to consider the entire journey, from anticipation and arrival through to participation and departure.
Many of the experiences that people cherish most are fundamentally human.
The emotional moments. The unexpected interactions. The memories that stay with us.
While AI can support these experiences, it is the human-centred understanding behind them that ultimately makes them meaningful.
Sustainability is becoming an expectation
The panel also discussed the growing importance of sustainability, ethical production and resilient supply chains.
Consumers may not always actively assess ESG credentials or sustainability initiatives, but they increasingly expect businesses to operate responsibly.
Ethical practices, fair working conditions and environmental responsibility are rapidly becoming baseline expectations rather than competitive advantages.
For organisations, this reinforces the need to consider sustainability as an integral part of design, innovation and business strategy.
Looking ahead
One of the strongest conclusions from the discussion was that the future will belong to organisations that successfully combine technology with human insight.
AI is undoubtedly changing how products and services are created. It is lowering barriers, increasing accessibility and accelerating innovation.
But as creation becomes easier, differentiation becomes harder.
The greatest opportunities will belong to those who combine powerful technology with curiosity, empathy, research and rigorous thinking.
Two ways to win were suggested during the discussion:
Be first.
Be best.
We would add a third:
Be human.
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A Gowling LDF Podcast recording was created ahead of this live panel discussion and will be shared in the next couple of weeks.
Photography by Anshuman Pandey
