Recently finished reading The State of UX in 2024: Enter late-stage UX, and had a few thoughts:

Automation
AI automates an increasing part of our jobs and reduces demand for designers in certain markets.

This evolution has been a long time in the making. Hard skills, traditionally deemed future-proof, are now facing challenges. The current opportunity lies in designers embracing AI-driven design generation to facilitate faster iterations and expedite the turnaround of concepts.

Saturation
Supply of designers outstrips demand. Market is still uncertain.

This was evident even in the early 2010s when the market was saturated with “designers” from bootcamps who made negligible contributions to the industry at large.

Commoditization
Focus on scalability and standardization over differentiation and delight.

Much like the industrialization of physical products, it is only logical that the next evolutionary step in digital design involves seeking ways to componentize and streamline the overall process. While there is still value in craftsmanship, (particularly when users anticipate a premium experience) the majority of products are utilitarian in nature and do not necessarily benefit from overly crafted experiences.

Financialization
Greater influence of financial health, shareholders interests, and business metrics in design decisions.

First and foremost you are a designer, not an artist; you are hired to solve business problems through design.

Disintegration
Lack of trust in digital products makes users either skeptical, complacent, or susceptible to exploitation.

An industry that heavily relied on dark patterns and manipulation to maintain user engagement results in a lack of trust? What a surprise.