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Artificial intelligence. Its pretty cool, I guess? Look at those neat videos. And the thousands of product design iterations just to get those creative balls rolling. Sure. Awesome. Or is it? Maybe. Who knows. All that seems to be the summary of Figmas 2025 AI Report, based on a survey of 2,500 designers and developers. While tools like ChatGPT and Figmas AI features are embedded in daily workflows, the report reveals a stark disconnect. Enthusiasm for AIs potential is high, but its practical impact remains uneven, the numbers show, constrained by vague goals, quality concerns, and cooling expectations. The report underscores a paradox: professionals see AI as essential to their future, but struggle to meaningfully harness it today. It kind of fits my own experience. Its there, but not there yet. Figmas study shows that a staggering 76% of AI projects prioritize vague objectives like experimenting with AI over concrete goals such as revenue growth, with an eye-popping 9%. It makes me weep for all the gigawatts evaporating in the name of a revolution that’s not actually happening, at least for designers and developers. The ambiguity reflects the technologys nascent state, Figmas Head of Insights Andrew Hogan tells me in a phone interview. Theres a lot of play and experimentation happeningits natural, he explains, comparing the current moment to early mobile app development, where rapid iteration preceded clear use cases. One survey respondent likened building AI products to running a restaurant where the menu changes daily, a metaphor Hogan calls the quote of the survey. So much contradiction Im not so sure about that parallelism with mobile app development, which struck me as a much faster, much more impactful revolution than AI, in practical, tangible economical terms, not just paper gains. Past technological shifts, like desktop publishing or the iPhone, delivered seismic industry changes within months. By comparison, AIs impact feels incremental and anecdotal. Sure, there are brilliant examples of big AI impacts in some industriesmostly audiovisualbut having a synthetic research minion, a repetitive-task assistant, or an artificial creative buddy dont seem quite as revolutionary as a billion smartphones taking over our lives. Hogan acknowledges the tension and, at the same time, has a warning: Companies risk dismissing AI too early if experiments fail to yield quick wins, potentially missing strategic advantages. He also says that, while the research highlights these contradictory data points between expectations/desires and reality, the data shows real progress: 34% of Figma users shipped AI products this year, up from 22% in 2024. The question is whether the vague goalsagain, back to the figure of 76% of companies saying lets play, throw some mud against the wall and see if it stickswill harden into measurable ROI before disillusionment sets in. The research shows that there are efficiency gains thanks to AI. But there’s a dichotomy here, too. Seventy-eight percent of professionals say it speeds up their work (up from 71% last year), but only 58% believe it improves quality, while 47% feel it makes them better at their jobs. What about the ones who think the quality is just the same or worse, and the 53% who dont think AI makes them better at their jobs? Its a strange, puzzling juxtaposition. Developers report higher satisfaction (67% say AI boosts work quality) than designers (40%), partly because code generation tools offer clearer utility. Designers, meanwhile, grapple with generative AIs unpredictable outputs. Hogan attributes this gap to the limitations of how we as humans interact with these things, not the technology itself. He cites Amaras Law: We overestimate short-term change and underestimate long-term transformation. Mobile took years to reshape industries, he says, pointing to Ubers evolution. Yet tools like ChatGPT sparked expectations of rapid, iPhone-level disruptiona bar AI hasnt yet cleared. Cooling expectations Despite 85% of professionals calling AI essential for future success, expectations for its near-term impact are cooling. Only 27% predict AI will significantly influence company goals in the next year, unchanged from 2024. Hogan frames this as a recalibration, not disillusionment. The hype gets ahead of what most people can do today, he says, likening AIs trajectory to the internets gradual adoption. Yet the Cambrian explosion of AI appslike the one that happened with the iPhones appsis yet to come. Sure, there are niche applications like medical document interpreters or predictive maintenance tools, but where are the truly transformative apps beyond being able to talk to glorified Wikipedia oracles? Wheres the Uber of AI? The answer may lie in agentic AI, the fastest-growing product category. These tools, which automate multistep tasks, saw a 143% year-over-year surge in development (from 21% in 2024 to 51% in 2025). But Hogan warns they require rethinking design principles. When should an agent check in with users? What information should it share? Designs role here is critical52% of builders say design is more important for AI products than traditional ones, as intuitive interfaces bridge the gap between capability and usability. AIs paradoxubiquitous yet underutilized, and underwhelming for a large partstems from its adolescence. Designers and developers are caught between excitement, collective hysteria, and pragmatism, navigating a landscape where prototyping and iteration matter more than ever. The technologys potential is real, yes. Code generation already accelerates development, and is used by 59% of developers. Agentic tools promise workflow revolutions, and adoption is rising. But without clearer goals, trust in outputs, and design-led refinement, AI risks becoming a toolbox without a blueprint. As Hogan puts it, Were still early. The challenge isnt whether AI will reshape design, but whether teams can evolve their processes fast enough to meet its uneven promise. For now, the future belongs to those who treat AI not as a magic wand, but as claymalleable, demanding, and far from fully molded.
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E-Commerce
Remote work is going mobile. Starting today, the Florida-based high-speed rail service Brightline is launching a partnership with the shared workspace provider Industrious to turn parts of its stationsand even entire train carsinto coworking spaces. Industrious coworking spaces are now open in Brightline’s stations in Miami, Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach, and Orlando, as well as a bookable train car for business meetings or private events on the move. “If people can work from anywhere, then anywhere can be a workplace,” says Jamie Hodari, cofounder and CEO of Industrious. “I think that’s something that’s been underdeveloped.” [Photo: courtesy Brightline] Brightline sees the addition of formal workspaces as a way to build on its high-speed connections between cities across Florida, giving riders more ability to use its network for both leisure and business travelsometimes simultaneously. “It’s a solution for modern professionals where we’re enhancing productivity through mobility,” says Megan Del Prior, Brightline’s vice president of corporate partnerships. “A lot of folks are riding for business. With our long-haul offering going from Miami to Orlando people are traveling during the workday and still need to work within the station spaces as well as on the trains,” she says. The coworking spaces are built in underutilized conference and meeting rooms inside Brightline’s stations, according to Del Prior. The bookable train cars available through the partnership have no special features, but do include Wi-Fi and charging ports like all Brightline train cars. [Photo: courtesy Brightline] Hodari says the idea for the partnership grew from Industrious’s previous experience building out workspaces in unconventional locations. In 2018, the company partnered with the outdoor apparel brand L.L. Bean to create a pop-up outdoor coworking space in New York City’s Madison Square Park. “The whole thing sold out within five minutes,” Hodari says. “It was such a sign that people are really curious about trying working and being productive in unfamiliar or new settings.” [Photo: courtesy Brightline] According to Hodari, the addition of coworking spaces to train stations is a recognition that people are already doing work in these spaces, either taking calls while waiting for their train or working on projects once their train is in motion. The experience of working like this, though, can be less than ideal. “Oftentimes it can be this really unpleasant, highly unproductive thing,” he says. “And it can be kind of painful for the people around you, where you’re talking loudly and you’re in your earphones and you’re unwittingly a nuisance.” Having dedicated spaces for meetings or focused work will enable people to make more of their travel time, Hodari says, noting, “You don’t stop being productive or engaging with your colleagues or other people because you’re in movement.
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E-Commerce
If youve gone shopping for a home appliance sometime in the last 30 years, youve probably noticed a blue Energy Star label on certain water heaters, stoves, light bulbs, and even windows. The program, launched by the Environmental Protection Agency in 1992, helps consumers identify energy-efficient products. But now the Trump administration is planning to shut it down. President Donald Trump has been attacking energy-efficiency measures since his return to office. In February, he said he would call on the EPA to revert to older efficiency standards for light bulbs, toilets, showers, and more. In his Unleashing American Energy order, Trump promised to safeguard the American peoples freedom to choose from a variety of goods and appliances, including but not limited to lightbulbs, dishwashers, washing machines, gas stoves, water heaters, toilets, and shower heads. Experts say the Energy Star standards are meant to help the environment by reducing water and energy consumption; they also lower U.S. households energy bills. And though Trump has framed standards as limiting to consumer choice, the Energy Star program itself is voluntary, and doesnt narrow what manufacturers can produce. To earn the Energy Star label, products do have to meet certain efficiency standardsbut the program doesnt stop manufacturers from making items that are not considered energy efficient, or Americans from purchasing them. (Energy Star stopped recommending any gas stoves in 2022, for example, but gas stoves are still available in America.) Energy Star also points consumers toward tax credits to bring down the cost of efficient appliances. Energy Star certifies all sorts of items, from heating and cooling (including heat pumps, ceiling fans, air conditioners, and thermostats) to appliances (like washers and dryers, dehumidifiers, dishwashers, refrigerators, and cooking products), plus water heaters, lighting, windows, and personal electronics like computers and TVs. By certifying efficient appliances, Energy Star has helped American households and businesses avoid more than $500 billion in energy costs since its founding, per a 2023 report. With an annual budget of around $50 millionless than 1% of the EPAs spending, the Alliance to Save Energy notesEnergy Star saves Americans $40 billion on energy bills each year. Energy Star has also prevented about 4 billion metric tons of emissions from entering the atmosphereequivalent to taking more than 933 million gas cars off the road for one year. Trump considered dismantling Energy Star in his first term. His move to eliminate it now comes alongside plans to shutter the EPAs climate change division and climate protection partnership division, sources told CNN. Historically, Energy Star has had bipartisan support, and more than 1,000 companies, cities, and organizations have signed a letter to the EPA urging continued support for the program. Republican senators have even praised the program, The Washington Post notes, saying it helped customers reduce their energy bills. Energy efficiency in general has strong public and bipartisan support. A March 2025 survey by Consumer Reports found that 87% of Americans agree that new U.S. home appliances should need to achieve a minimum level of efficiency (that included 94% of Democrats and 82% of Republicans). Supporters of Energy Star add that axing the program goes against the Trump administrations promises to lower energy costs for Americans, as well as efforts by the so-called Department of Government Efficiency to save taxpayer money. If you wanted to raise families energy bills, getting rid of the Energy Star label would be a pretty good way, Steven Nadel, executive director of the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy, said in a statement. This would take away basic information from consumers who want to choose cost-saving products easily. Theres a reason this program has been so popular with consumers and manufacturers alike. The Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers, which represents a variety of appliance makers, said the industry is proud of its efficiency achievements, and that Energy Star is an example of a successful private-public partnership. “AHAM supports the continuation of a streamlined Energy Star program, which could be managed through the Department of Energy,” a spokesperson added. (Energy Star is currently a joint program of the EPA and DOE.) “Moving the program to DOE would meet the administrations goals of preserving a full selection of products from which consumers can choose, and also reducing unnecessary regulatory burden.”
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E-Commerce
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