AI is getting better at design. Designers should too.The skills behind the work.I spend a lot of time looking at design work. Reviewing portfolios. Hiring designers. Working with design leaders, seniors and juniors. Sitting in critiques. Watching people explain how they arrived at a solution. And over time, you start to notice what separates the really good ones.AI is making that difference both harder to see and more important. A designer can turn an idea into a polished prototype in minutes. They can generate interfaces, write copy, synthesise research, explore directions, vibe code a working experience, and iterate at a speed that would have been unimaginable only a few years ago. That is extraordinary. And to be clear: this is not an argument against any of it. AI literacy is indisputably part of the job.But something has been bothering me. Recently, reviewing work with my own...