Jamie Ashford
Designing with AI: From Pixel Pusher to Experience Strategist
Midjourney generated 50 mockup variations in the time it took me to open Figma. Lost three clients in two months. Freelance design work in Manchester was drying up fast, and my rent wasn't getting any cheaper.
Eight years I'd been doing this. Graphic design, then UI/UX. Pixel-perfect interfaces, obsessive 8px grids, late nights fixing component libraries. My Northern Quarter flat's full of watercolors I paint when I need to unwind. Design after midnight with jazz on, that's when I do my best work. Did my best work.
2024 was brutal. Midjourney, DALL-E, Canva AI. Clients started making their own designs. "Good enough" became the enemy of my work. A startup founder told me straight up: "We're just using AI now. Saves us £3k." That hurt.
Couldn't afford the Nielsen Norman Group UX course JobRipper recommended. £1,500. I was behind on rent. Tried a cheaper alternative on Udemy instead, £40. Not the same quality but better than nothing. The WCAG accessibility stuff I learned from free resources and YouTube.
The transition JobRipper outlined sounded great in theory. "Reposition as strategist, use AI for execution, focus on human-centered thinking." Reality was messier. Changed my pitch to "UX strategy and research," but clients still wanted cheap and fast. The AI tools generated output I could refine, sure, but most clients didn't want to pay for refinement.
Took a part-time job at a Manchester design agency after month 5. Swallowed my pride. Freelance wasn't covering bills. Agency work pays less than my old freelance rates, but it's steady. I do UX research and strategy there, use AI tools for rapid prototyping, add the human touch they can't quite get right on their own.
Haven't painted in three months. Too tired. Jazz still plays while I work, but now it's during agency hours, not midnight creative sessions. The work's fine. Not what I imagined at 34, but I'm employed.
JobRipper gave me a direction when everything fell apart. Didn't turn me into some strategic UX guru, didn't land me dream clients, but I adapted enough to survive. Still doing design work, just differently. For now, that's what I've got.