We’ve uncovered fifteen AI use case patterns (there are probably more) and given each one a name. This is the second of the fifteen.

Design assistant filling in and optimizing creative concepts rapidly.

Do you sometimes get stuck trying to finish a design? Would you sometimes like to say, “Please complete this office design,” or “Give me five different ways to finalize this prototype.”

The Design Innovator is the AI pattern that collaborates with humans to transform creative ideas into tangible prototypes and optimal solutions. Instead of generating random, unconventional ideas to get unstuck in a problem, it is used to creatively fill in the blanks given a set of design constraints. For example:

“Hey ChatGPT, I’m uploading a set of team member profiles and I want you to suggest who should be teaming up with whom.”

The Design Innovator pattern accelerates the design process by rapidly generating solutions for anything from digital interfaces to physical structures. By optimizing for constraints such as aesthetics, functionality, and efficiency, the Design Innovator pushes the boundaries of innovation while considering practical limitations. It augments human creativity with computational power, enabling designers to explore a wider range of possibilities and refine ideas more quickly.

Several examples:

• An automotive company can utilize the Design Innovator pattern to generate thousands of aerodynamic car body designs, optimizing for fuel efficiency, manufacturing feasibility, and aesthetic appeal simultaneously.

• A UX design team might use the Design Innovator to rapidly prototype and test hundreds of interface variations for a new mobile app.

• A podcast creator could use the pattern to define a series of topics to explore throughout a podcast season, given available audience analytics of preferences of their listeners.

The Design Innovator speeds up innovation and productivity by creatively filling in the details of a design in a way that's much faster than humans can. Unlike the Inspirational Catalyst pattern, the Design Innovator pattern focuses on accelerating design solutions rather than expanding mental models.