# Design Decision-Making and Taste in the Age of AI

The importance of design decisions and the role of taste in the era of artificial intelligence.

- **Source:** [UX Collective - Medium](https://brifing.si/source/5c6bdc88-e150-4203-af43-069801e37dd9)
- **Published:** 2026-07-12
- **Topic:** [Design & UX](https://brifing.si/c/design)
- **Original article:** <https://uxdesign.cc/taste-cannot-be-delegated-1706847a0b4b?source=rss----138adf9c44c---4>
- **On Brifing:** https://brifing.si/s/c36e4150-e0e1-4a1c-8902-9fda068a6c85

## Introduction

As AI democratizes design processes, strategic thinking and decision-making have become competitive advantages. Designers' value now comes not from producing outputs but from knowing which outputs deserve to exist.

## What is Taste?

Taste is the ability to recognize quality and apply this knowledge consistently. It requires deep understanding in areas like history, proportion, typography, and interaction. Taste not only identifies quality but also involves the responsibility to act on it.

## AI and Taste

AI models can predict preferences by learning from human-made work. However, these predictions cannot replace human abilities like understanding intent or making contextual decisions. AI can measure preferences but cannot exercise judgment.

## Preference vs. Judgment

Preference explains what people choose, while judgment explains why something is the right choice. AI can predict preferences but cannot envision what should exist in the future. This is the essence of design.

## Taste in Organizations

Organizations may lose their sense of taste due to multiple layers of approval and compromise in decision-making. This weakens the originality and impact of design. The rise of AI has made this issue more pronounced.

## The Importance of Context

Every important design decision is made in context. What's right for a banking app may not suit a children's learning platform. AI struggles to understand these contextual differences.

## Limits of Best Practices

Best practices describe what worked in the past. But design must go beyond these when the future demands something different. Radical decisions like removing the iPhone's physical keyboard exemplify this.

## The Apple Example

The iPhone imagined a new future instead of optimizing existing preferences. Removing the physical keyboard seemed irrational at the time, but it transformed the phone into a software-defined device.

## Organizations and AI

Even before AI, organizations relied on preference aggregation over taste in decision-making. Everyone critiquing designs in meetings stifled originality. AI could amplify this tendency.

## Conclusion

AI and corporate processes highlight the importance of taste and decision-making in design. Designers can stand out by honing strategic thinking and contextual decision-making. Taste remains an irreplaceable human ability.

## Sources covering this story

- https://uxdesign.cc/taste-cannot-be-delegated-1706847a0b4b?source=rss----138adf9c44c---4 — 

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_Summary written by Brifing from the original reporting. Copyright in the original article belongs to its publisher; read the full piece at the link above._