How AI is Transforming the Work of UX Designers
The relationship between Artificial Intelligence and UX Design is no longer a distant promise. It is now a concrete reality inside companies of all sizes. AI-based tools already help designers create prototypes faster, test hypotheses with real data, and personalize experiences in ways that would be impossible manually. What truly changes is the speed at which design decisions can be made, since machine learning algorithms can analyze behavior patterns from thousands of users in seconds and translate that into practical insights for people designing interfaces. This evolution does not replace the human perspective, but it amplifies the capabilities of those working with user experience, allowing professionals to focus on strategic decisions while technology takes care of repetitive tasks and large-scale analysis.
To understand how this transformation happens in practice, it is worth looking at the journey of Faustina Koduah, a senior student at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU), a Ghanaian American and the first in her family to attend college. Faustina experienced this convergence between design and technology during a summer internship at CoStar Group, a Fortune 500 company specializing in real estate information, market analytics, and online marketplaces 🚀. During the program, she did not just sit and observe. She worked directly with design tools like Figma, collaborated with cross-functional teams made up of software engineers, product managers, and senior designers, and actively contributed to projects that integrated Artificial Intelligence features into an internal app called Scout, used by employees who collect commercial real estate data across the United States, Canada, France, Spain, and the United Kingdom. This hands-on experience is a clear example of how the market is looking for professionals who can move comfortably between creativity, technology, and user-centered thinking.
Faustina’s case also highlights something important about the current tech landscape. Large companies are no longer isolating AI teams and UX Design teams in separate silos. On the contrary, the trend is to integrate these disciplines from the earliest stages of any digital project. When a designer understands how a language model works or how a recommendation system makes decisions, they can design interfaces that are more transparent, more useful, and more aligned with real user expectations. And that is exactly the kind of hybrid professional that internship programs at companies like CoStar Group are developing.
From Family Inspiration to an Internship at a Fortune 500
Faustina Koduah’s path at VCU started with advice from her older brother, Isaac, also a VCU alumnus. He was the one who encouraged her to study Information Systems at the VCU School of Business, and Faustina says that guidance was spot on. According to her, it is a versatile field that opens doors to multiple careers, but it was specifically in UX and product design that she found her true passion.
This discovery became even clearer after a trip to San Francisco with Management Leadership for Tomorrow (MLT), a nonprofit organization that connects college students and recent graduates from underrepresented groups with employers in the tech sector. During the event, a conversation with a representative from Adobe helped Faustina clearly envision a future in design. From there, she not only committed to her Information Systems degree, but also added a concentration in visual effects at VCU’s School of the Arts, combining technical business skills with creative expertise in motion graphics.
On campus, Faustina also got involved with orientation and transition programs for new students and served as an Adobe student ambassador, which significantly expanded her professional network. In fact, one of the most valuable pieces of advice she shares with other students is precisely about the importance of building relationships with people in the industry before you need them. That proactive mindset was key to landing her internship at CoStar Group, with financial support from VCU’s Internship Funding Program, which helps cover costs associated with summer internships.
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How VCU Prepares Designers for the Future
VCU has stood out as one of the American universities that invests the most in the intersection between design and emerging technology. The school’s curriculum is not limited to traditional tools or methods. It encourages students to explore how new technologies, including Artificial Intelligence, can be ethically and effectively integrated into the creative process. The university’s connection with CoStar Group reinforces this commitment. The CoStar Center for Arts and Innovation, currently under construction at the intersection of Broad and Belvidere streets in Richmond, is a project that will bring together the arts and other disciplines to explore solutions in digital, creative, and economic fields. This kind of investment shows that the university is positioning its students at the forefront of the market.
Faustina Koduah is a direct reflection of this approach. Before even starting her internship, she was already familiar with concepts such as user-centered design, qualitative and quantitative research, rapid prototyping, and usability testing. This solid foundation allowed her to arrive at CoStar Group ready to truly contribute, instead of just tackling operational tasks without strategic context.
During the internship, Faustina said that one of her biggest lessons was understanding how design decisions directly affect user adoption of AI features. It is not enough to build a technically sophisticated feature if the interface does not clearly communicate what it does, how it works, and why the user should trust it. This is a huge challenge for UX professionals working on AI-based products because there is an additional layer of complexity involved. The user needs to understand, even in a simplified way, what is happening behind the scenes in order to feel comfortable using the tool. Translating that technical complexity into a simple and intuitive experience is exactly what a good user experience designer does.
Another important aspect of the training offered by VCU is the focus on multidisciplinary collaboration. Faustina mentioned that during her internship, she took part in design critique sessions with professionals from different fields, something she was already used to doing at the university. This dynamic prepares students for the reality of the job market, where a designer rarely works alone. They need to collaborate with software engineers, data scientists, product managers, and business stakeholders to make sure proposed solutions are technically feasible, desirable for users, and sustainable for the company. VCU understands that training a well-rounded designer goes far beyond teaching someone to use Figma or Sketch, and this holistic view is what sets its graduates apart in the job market 💡.
What Faustina Actually Did at CoStar Group
Faustina’s internship at CoStar Group was not a generic, sit-and-watch experience. She contributed to real deliverables that impacted the company’s operations in multiple countries. Among her most relevant tasks, she used Figma to build and refine interface components, ensuring visual and functional consistency across the company’s internal products.
On top of that, Faustina helped lead design proposals for internal tools using the Object-Oriented UX (OOUX) methodology. This approach creates a more intuitive user experience by treating content as interconnected objects, which makes it easier to organize complex information and significantly improves workflows. In practice, this meant rethinking how CoStar employees interact with internal systems, making processes more efficient and less error-prone.
Another noteworthy project was developing options for a Scout logo refresh, the custom mobile app used by employees who collect commercial property data in the field. More than a visual update, the logo redesign needed to communicate the tool’s identity and purpose more clearly to its users.
However, the work most aligned with current market trends was the project involving Artificial Intelligence. Faustina designed features that would allow employees researching commercial buildings to use AI to dramatically speed up their workflows throughout the day using Scout. Imagine a field professional who needs to catalog dozens of properties in a single day. With AI integrated into the app, tasks like auto-filling data, suggesting classifications, and identifying patterns could reduce hours of manual work to just minutes. Faustina’s role was to make sure all of this automation was presented to users in a clear, accessible, and trustworthy way.
AI as a Creative Ally in UX
One of the most interesting aspects of Faustina’s experience at CoStar Group was realizing how Artificial Intelligence can be a genuine ally in the creative process, rather than a threat. While working on the project that brought AI into the Scout app, she noticed that automation tools freed up a significant amount of the design team’s time so they could focus on higher-value activities like user research, journey mapping, and refining microinteractions. Tasks such as generating layout variations, organizing research data, and even suggesting color palettes based on accessibility guidelines were partially automated, allowing the team to focus on what truly requires human sensitivity: understanding the emotional and functional needs of the people who will use the product.
This balance between automation and human touch is essential for any UX professional who wants to stay relevant in the coming years. Artificial Intelligence can process huge volumes of user behavior data, spot navigation patterns, predict friction points, and even suggest improvements to interaction flows. However, the final call about what makes sense for each product, audience, and culture still depends on a design professional with strong judgment, empathy, and critical thinking.
Faustina saw this firsthand when she had to adapt app features for employees in different countries, each with their own digital habits, cultural expectations, and levels of technological familiarity. No algorithm can capture all those nuances on its own without the curation of someone who deeply understands user experience. As she summed it up in a very straightforward way: if you open an app and it is super confusing, that is bad UX. If everything makes sense, looks good, and helps you quickly do what you want, that is good UX.
What This Story Says About the Future of UX
Faustina Koduah’s journey at VCU and CoStar Group offers valuable lessons for anyone considering a career in UX Design, especially in a world increasingly shaped by Artificial Intelligence. The first lesson is that multidisciplinary training truly matters. Combining an Information Systems degree with a concentration in visual effects gave Faustina a unique toolkit that allows her to navigate technical conversations with engineers and creative discussions with senior designers without feeling out of place in either group.
The second lesson is all about networking and initiative. Faustina built her professional network by actively participating in programs like MLT, serving as an Adobe ambassador, and getting involved in extracurricular activities at VCU. Those connections did not appear overnight. They were cultivated over months and years, long before she needed a referral or a specific opportunity.
The third lesson, and probably the most relevant right now, is that UX professionals cannot afford to ignore Artificial Intelligence. It is not about learning how to code machine learning models from scratch, but about understanding the core principles of how these systems work, what their limitations are, and how they impact the end user experience. Designers who master this intersection are in a privileged position in the market because they can create products that are not just visually appealing, but genuinely useful and trustworthy.
The internship at CoStar Group gave Faustina a direct look at how design creates real impact across teams and how keeping a strong focus on the user is what separates mediocre products from excellent ones. And with her motion graphics skills combined with her knowledge of information systems and UX, she is well positioned for a career that blends the best of both worlds: the creativity of design and the power of technology 🎯.
For anyone just starting out or considering a UX Design internship, the takeaway is simple. The market is evolving fast, and professionals who combine classic design skills with a practical understanding of Artificial Intelligence will have a huge competitive edge. Universities like VCU are opening that path, and real-world experiences like Faustina’s show that this integrated training is already delivering concrete results outside the classroom.
