Workshop on Human-Centered, AI-Accelerated Design Thinking
- July 18, 2026
- 10:00 AM to 12:00 PM IST
- Live online
A 3-hour hands-on workshop for product teams who want to compress 2 weeks of research synthesis into 2 hours.
About this Workshop
AI has quietly rewired how design gets done. Synthesis that took days now takes minutes, and prototypes appear from a prompt, but that speed comes with a hidden cost. The same tools that accelerate the work also flatten nuance, smooth over the messy human context where the best design insight actually lives, and tempt designers to accept a plausible-looking answer instead of the right one.
In 2026, the differentiator isn’t whether you use AI; nearly everyone does. It’s whether you can move at AI speed without losing the empathy and judgment that make design valuable in the first place. This workshop shows working designers how to fold AI into the design-thinking process deliberately, using it for velocity where it helps and protecting the human layer where it counts, so they ship faster and better, not just faster.
You will walk out with your own "Where AI Helps / Where I Lead" workflow map, applied to a real design problem. That is the bar we are holding ourselves to.
This is part of the AI-Native Practitioner Series from the Institute of Product Leadership.
key takeaways
- Where AI helps vs. where you lead. A practical map of the design-thinking process showing which stages AI can accelerate (synthesis, ideation, first drafts) and which demand human judgment (framing the real problem, reading context, making the call), so AI adoption becomes intentional rather than accidental.
- Catch what AI misses. Hands-on practice using AI to turn raw research into themes in minutes, plus the critical skill of spotting where the AI flattened, generalized, or missed what actually mattered, getting the speed without being fooled by it.
- A repeatable, judgment-led AI workflow. A personal framework each participant leaves with for running design thinking in an AI-accelerated way, keeping the human-centered core intact while cutting the grunt work, usable on their very next project.
Who should attend
This workshop is built for you if you are:
- A UX, product, or interaction designer who uses AI tools ad-hoc and wants a deliberate, repeatable way to work them into your process
- A design lead who needs your team to move faster with AI without the quality and empathy slipping
- A product manager or founder who runs design-thinking sessions and wants AI to accelerate them, not flatten them
- A visual or graphic designer moving toward product design who wants to start with an AI-first workflow
- Curious about AI in design but worried it produces generic, context-blind work — this workshop is about exactly that tension
You do not need any AI experience. If you have run or joined a design-thinking exercise, you can do this workshop.
What you will learn
- Map the design-thinking process into stages AI should accelerate (synthesis, ideation, first drafts) and stages where human judgment must lead (framing the real problem, reading context, making the call)
- Use AI to turn raw research into themes in minutes — then catch where it flattened, generalized, or missed what actually mattered
- Prompt like a designer, so AI produces work grounded in your users’ context instead of plausible-looking generic output
- Protect the empathy layer: know which signals never to outsource to the machine
- Leave with a repeatable, judgment-led AI workflow you can run on your very next project
Agenda
Opening
Welcome and setup
Get your laptop connected. Confirm your AI tool access is working. Meet the room.
Part 1
Mapping the process: where AI helps vs. where you lead
Walk the design-thinking stages one by one. Decide, deliberately, which parts AI accelerates and which demand human judgment. Build your personal Where AI Helps / Where I Lead map.
Part 2
Live lab: empathy at human speed, synthesis at AI speed
Hands-on session. Take raw user research and use AI to surface themes and insights in minutes. Then the critical part: audit the output against the raw data, find what the AI flattened or missed, and correct it. Bring a real project if you have one.
Part 3
Ideate, draft, and decide
Use AI to generate concepts and first drafts fast, then apply the judgment layer — critique, choose, and refine against real user context. Assemble everything into your take-home, judgment-led AI workflow.
Closing
Wrap and Q&A
Open floor for questions. Trade notes with other participants.
What is included
- Full workshop access, 3 hours, live
- Recording of the live synthesis lab
- Sample research dataset for the synthesis exercise
- Designer’s prompt library — tested prompts for synthesis, ideation, and critique
- “Where AI Helps / Where I Lead” workflow map template
Your facilitator
Dr. Pavan Soni
Founder and Innovation Evangelist
Inflexion Point Consulting
Dr. Pavan Soni is an Innovation Evangelist by profession and a teacher by passion. He is the founder of Inflexion Point, offering programs on Design, Innovation and Leadership. He has conducted over 750 workshops with 200 organizations in ten countries.
Pavan is the bestselling author of the books, ‘Everyday Creativity’, ‘Design Your Career’ and ‘Design Your Thinking’, published by Penguin Random House.
Workshop Pass
- 3-hour live workshop
- Recording included
- Discovery Playbook template
- Claude prompt library
- Setup guide 7 days before
Frequently asked questions
No. The workshop assumes zero AI experience. The pre-session setup guide walks you through everything, and the live lab starts from the basics of prompting before building up. If you already use AI tools, you’ll skip the ramp-up and go deeper on the judgment layer.
Some familiarity with design thinking helps. If you’ve run or participated in even one design-thinking exercise, you’re ready. You do not need to be a working designer; PMs, founders, and career transitioners do fine.
Here’s the FAQ answer with the tool recommendation baked in, replacing the placeholder version:
A laptop and a Claude account. No design software required. If already use ChatGPT, Gemini, or another AI assistant at work? That’s fine, the workflow you’ll learn is tool-agnostic and works with any of them; use an employer-approved account and avoid pasting confidential research.
Hands-on. Part 2 is a live lab where you run AI synthesis on real research data yourself, and Part 3 has you generating and critiquing concepts. Expect to work, not just watch.
Yes, and it’s encouraged. The exercises work with the sample dataset we provide, but if you bring a real project (research notes, a design problem you’re framing), you’ll leave with your workflow map applied to work that actually matters to you.
The live lab portion is recorded and shared with all registrants. But the workshop is built around doing the exercises with feedback in the room, so attending live is where the value is.
Your personal “Where AI Helps / Where I Lead” workflow map, the designer’s prompt library, the sample dataset, the lab recording, and a repeatable judgment-led workflow you can run on your next project.
The opposite: that worry is the premise. Half the workshop is about catching where AI flattens nuance and misses context, and protecting the parts of design that must stay human. You’ll leave more critical of AI output, not less.
Seats are limited. Please register each person individually. For teams of 3 or more, write to us for a team rate.
Full refund up to 7 days before the workshop. After that, you can transfer your seat to the next workshop at no charge.
Workshop Pass
- 3-hour live workshop
- Recording included
- Discovery Playbook template
- Claude prompt library
- Setup guide 7 days before