How AI is Changing What Designers Can Ship
It is nearly 2026 and it’s never been easier to build yourself or your business a flashy new website. Homepage with beautiful images of your products? Check. Testimonials from your customers to show credibility or social proof? Check. A full store to sell the amazing things you have to offer? Check. A contact form, for…well, contacting you. Check.
But sometimes, all of that might not be enough. Maybe Kevin from Sales wishes there was “one of those cool calculators to determine what size to order”. What if Julia from marketing wants a fun new product configurator, or Mark from legal insists on adding cookie consent banners to avoid getting sued. So you’re now 80% finished with your website and the last 20% becomes a wishlist of features that Squarespace or Wix or your summer intern can’t figure out how to do.
Traditionally, the solution might cost you six figures and setting up a new desk, but of course that’s not always an option. The solution might just be small, intentional custom code scattered here and there to make your team, and your customers, happy. And that may sound a bit scary if you’re not a professional developer, but the tools at our disposal today have changed the game for non-developers trying to bridge the gap between idea and execution.
This is where tools like Cursor or even our good friend ChatGPT come into play. While they won’t magically give anyone a minor in software engineering, knowing how to leverage them can give you the ability to build lightweight features and ideas that used to die in the marketing meeting. Just by giving an ai agent a prompt about needing an interactive sizing chart, you can have it live on your product pages within a day.
Don’t believe me? Well here it is, and it only took 5 minutes.
My goal here isn’t to suggest designers turn into developers, or that every problem should be solved with custom code. It’s about understanding that code is now just another design tool. Used sparingly and intentionally, it can remove friction, unlock ideas, and help your websites behave more like the businesses they represent. The best work still starts with strategy and design. Code simply helps it go the last mile.
As we head into 2026, the most valuable designers won’t be the ones who know every tool, but the ones who know how to connect them. No-code platforms get you most of the way there. AI-assisted code helps you cross the finish line. And somewhere in that last 20% is where the most interesting, useful, and memorable work tends to live.
