At Key Lime Interactive, we spotlight the visionaries transforming user experience. As Artificial Intelligence (AI) reshapes every industry, UX leaders face a critical question: How do we ensure technology enhances — not replaces — human experience?

Welcome back to Influential Voices in UX, our interview series exploring the future of design, research, and product innovation.

Today, we are thrilled to feature Brad Orego, a visionary in product development and user experience. Brad has a reputation for cutting through the hype and delivering real-world strategies that redefine user interaction. His experience leading product and UX teams at major tech companies gives him a unique perspective on where the industry is heading.

Brad’s insights today focus on the most transformative trend dominating the industry: Artificial Intelligence, and how UX professionals must adapt their thinking to not just survive, but thrive.

Let’s dive right into our conversation with Brad.

What is one emerging trend in UX you’re most excited about right now, and why does it matter?

Anyone who doesn’t respond “AI” to this is wrong . There’s a ton of hype (anyone trying to tell you it will solve all of your problems or ruin everything is probably trying to sell you something), but it’s creating all sorts of new opportunities in tech and UX. I’ve heard a lot of people talk about blurring the lines between Product, Design, Engineering, Research, Marketing, etc., and while I don’t believe those disciplines are going away anytime soon, leveraging AI tools lets you do things you would previously have to rely on teammates (or entire teams) to do. For example, if you’re running a usability study, instead of providing static mockups to participants, you can vibecode a quick demo that shows the interactions (with a mock backend) and is personalized to each participant’s data/context/use case. 

We’re also seeing a paradigm shift in the overall user experience. I’ve started using the term “GUI” for the first time in about 15-20 years because we need to think not only about what the graphical user interface looks like (for humans interacting with our software on screens) but also the voice or text-based experiences (e.g., for those using an LLM). Embedding transcription and translation into every application wasn’t practical a few years ago, but I wouldn’t be surprised if we see a lot more natural language interactions rather than point-and-click in the near future.

What is the biggest challenge or pain point you see UX teams facing today?

Cutting through the above noise/hype, for one. It’s easy to see everyone else throwing AI at every problem and think you need to do the same. Think critically about what your product/service offers and how AI can enhance that experience. Low-hanging fruit tend to be highly repetitive, do not require much sophistication or nuance, and are relatively low risk/easy to fix if they go wrong. Don’t try to boil the ocean on this: start small and be ready to iterate a lot. Don’t think you have to reshape your entire product (or your own workflows) because of AI.

Another challenge is the lack of best practices or clear winners so far. Everyone is still experimenting with AI, so we don’t know what works well and what doesn’t. And with so much VC money pouring into AI startups, there are dozens (if not hundreds) of new tools for each step of your workflow. It’s overwhelming and can lead to significant hesitation and trepidation about how to move forward. Again, don’t boil the ocean: start small, lean on your colleagues at other companies or in other disciplines at your company, and try things out. The worst thing you can do here is bury your head in the sand.

How do you see UX evolving over the next few years, and what advice would you give teams to stay ahead?

There’s already a bunch of advice above, but in general, you have to be willing to be flexible and to keep learning. Anyone in tech should be used to reinventing themselves, learning new tools, adapting to new environments, etc., but this is more of a paradigm shift (like when the Internet first came out in the 90s or during the mobile boom in the early 2010s). You will probably have to let go of things you used to do in order to embrace & make room for new things. I’ve often told my team they need to let go of the idea that the value they provide is doing the core practices of Research (e.g., writing research plans, recruiting participants, collecting data, doing analysis & synthesis), and instead think about their value as understanding what questions their colleagues have and providing answers to those questions. Everything else under the hood is a black box, and nobody cares how it gets done (assuming it’s getting done right).

Thank you, Brad Orego, for sharing your perspective on the critical intersection of AI and UX.

To summarize Brad’s powerful advice for all of us in the UX community:

• The Paradigm Shift is Real: We must move beyond just the GUI and embrace natural language interactions.
• Cut Through the Hype: Don’t try to ‘boil the ocean’ with AI; start small, focus on low-hanging fruit, and be ready to iterate constantly.
• Redefine Your Value: The future of UX is about answering the critical business questions—not just performing the core research tasks. Flexibility and continuous learning are key.

Until next time!

Nominate Your Next UX Visionary

Who do you believe is shaping the future of UX? We’re eager to hear from you! Nominate individuals whose perspectives you’d love to see featured in an upcoming post. Please send your nominations, along with a brief explanation of why you think they’d be a great fit, to marketing@keylimeinteractive.com. We look forward to your suggestions!