AI as an Assistant in Initial UX Research

We are proud and excited to announce that Magdalena Ostoja-Chyżyńska, CEO of UX GIRL, has been recognized among the outstanding leaders featured in the prestigious Strong Women in IT 2025 – Global Edition report. This global publication highlights inspiring stories of women from around the world who play a key role in driving digital transformation, innovation, and the growth of new technologies.

The report showcases women who not only achieve professional success but also inspire others with their determination, resilience, and ability to break barriers. Magdalena was selected thanks to her consistent work, broad expertise, and vision that she has been implementing in the IT industry for many years. Her story is presented in the report based on a personal questionnaire, giving readers a glimpse not only into her professional journey but also into the values she lives by every day.

As the CEO of UX GIRL, Magdalena has been building a company that places users at the very center of the design process, creating digital solutions that truly support business growth. Her leadership combines strategic expertise with a deep understanding of people’s needs – both the end users of technology and the team members she works with. Thanks to this approach, UX GIRL delivers not only innovative projects but also fosters an organizational culture built on empathy, collaboration, and responsibility.

Magdalena’s recognition is not just a celebration of her achievements but also an important voice in the global conversation about the role of women in technology. The IT sector still faces challenges around equality and representation, and initiatives such as Strong Women in IT are essential. They demonstrate that diversity, collaboration, and courage in decision-making drive meaningful change and open up new opportunities.

For years, Magdalena Ostoja-Chyżyńska has been proving that leadership in technology can successfully combine business expertise, an innovative mindset, and the ability to build teams based on trust and shared accountability. Her journey is a powerful example that women in IT not only achieve success but also have a lasting impact on the entire industry.

This recognition is both an acknowledgment of Magdalena’s accomplishments and an inspiration for all women who aspire to a career in technology.

We warmly congratulate our CEO – Magdalena Ostoja-Chyżyńska – for being named among the global leaders who are shaping the future of IT.

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Some time ago, UX GIRL had the pleasure of contributing to this shift by leading a hands-on workshop for the UX and UI design team at Silky Coders. The session was facilitated by our CEO, Magdalena Ostoja-Chyżyńska, and focused on practical, responsible, and creative applications of AI in the user experience design process — from early discovery to daily execution.

The energy in the room was undeniable. Silky Coders’ team brought openness, curiosity, and a hunger for meaningful innovation. Together, we dove deep into the new frontier of UX work — where human-centered design meets AI-supported workflows.

AI in UX: Not a Threat, but a Tool

One of the key messages of the workshop was clear: AI is not here to replace designers — it’s here to support them. Rather than automating creativity, AI can serve as a strategic partner that:

• Accelerates research in the discovery phase by summarizing large data sets, extracting patterns from user feedback, and supporting persona creation.
• Supports ideation with concept generation tools, enabling faster brainstorming and prototyping.
• Optimizes repetitive tasks such as UI variant testing, accessibility checks, and design documentation — giving designers more space for meaningful work.

According to McKinsey, teams that effectively integrate AI into their workflows can improve design delivery times by up to 30% and significantly reduce cognitive load during early research phases.

Balancing Innovation with Responsibility

An equally important topic explored during the session was responsible AI adoption. As powerful as these tools are, they come with ethical considerations: biased outputs, transparency concerns, and the risk of over-automation. The group discussed how to stay grounded in human-centered principles even as workflows evolve.

That means:

• always validating AI-generated insights with real user data,
• being transparent with stakeholders about AI’s role in the process,
• ensuring diversity in training data and critically assessing the risks of bias in the tools used.

This human-first mindset is key to ensuring AI enhances — rather than dilutes — the quality of user experiences.

Key Takeaways for UX Teams Exploring AI

For those who couldn’t attend, here are three actionable ideas from the workshop that any design team can start applying:

1. Start small, but start now. Test AI tools in low-risk areas like copy generation, image variations, or documentation support. Gradually integrate them into your design sprints.
2. Create internal AI guidelines. Align your team on when, why, and how AI should be used. Define quality standards, review processes, and ethical boundaries.
3. Treat AI as a design collaborator. Just like you might whiteboard with a teammate, you can brainstorm with AI. Use it not only to move faster, but also to explore what’s possible.

Looking Ahead

These workshops reminded us that the future of UX is not about man versus machine — it’s about collaboration between designers and technology. AI will continue to evolve, but the heart of UX will always be human insight, empathy, and creativity.

At UX GIRL, we’re proud to guide teams through this transition — not just by teaching tools, but by cultivating the mindset needed to design smarter, faster, and more ethically.

A big thank you to Silky Coders for your openness, energy, and curiosity. We can’t wait to see how your team transforms the knowledge from this session into even more impactful user experiences.

Until next time — let’s keep designing the future together.

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Imagine this: a UX team is developing a digital product, but all members share similar life experiences — similar age, background, and gender. As a result, the prototype of an app for people with mobility limitations turns out to be barely accessible, because no one in the team noticed the need for interface adaptation. When a UX team is diverse, with women in leadership roles, the chances of catching and fixing such issues early rise significantly.

Why diversity matters in UX

Diverse design teams — not only in terms of gender but also culture, experience, age, or way of thinking — bring different perspectives that help avoid cognitive biases and create more inclusive solutions. A study called Inclusion unlocks the creative potential of gender diversity in teams found that diversity alone is not enough — women and other underrepresented groups need to be actively involved in core decision-making stages, such as research and design, for diversity to translate into real creativity gains.

Companies with more women in leadership roles also tend to perform better financially. Research shows higher innovation levels, stronger product decisions, and greater empathy toward users. Forbes highlights that women leaders often introduce more collaborative, user-centered approaches that enhance the overall experience.

What women-led leadership brings to UX

• Empathy and user awareness — Women leaders often put strong emphasis on user research and sensitivity, uncovering “invisible” barriers (cultural, situational, accessibility-related) that others might miss.
• Collaboration-focused leadership — They tend to create safe environments where team members can share ideas freely, fostering innovation and exploration.
• Inclusive mindset — Women-led approaches often prioritize designing products that are useful and accessible to broad, diverse groups of users.
• Balanced decision-making — A focus not only on speed but also on long-term product impact and quality.

UX and better products

Products designed by diverse, women-led teams are often:

• better aligned with the real needs of underrepresented user groups,
• less prone to “design blindness” (ignoring accessibility, cultural differences, or varied technical skills),
• more satisfying for users, resulting in higher loyalty and fewer costly fixes,
• more adaptive to market shifts, since multiple perspectives strengthen resilience.

Does this make business sense?

The numbers say yes:

• McKinsey & Company has consistently found that companies with greater diversity in executive teams are more likely to outperform peers financially.
• A report from NGCP highlights that firms with more women in leadership positions often achieve higher profitability, stronger market positions, and greater operational stability.
• On the other hand, a study in Chicago Booth Review shows that diversity doesn’t automatically equal performance gains. Diversity must be paired with inclusive culture and organizational commitment to unlock its benefits.

The role of a women-led UX studio like UX GIRL

As a women-led studio, UX GIRL brings unique value:

• Amplifying perspectives often overlooked in mainstream design, helping spot user needs earlier.
• Building research and decision-making processes that prevent exclusion and bias.
• Cultivating inclusive team culture, leading to higher engagement, less burnout, and stronger talent retention.
• Showing clients that investing in diversity is not just ethical, but a real competitive advantage — when products fit real users better, they deliver higher business value.

Challenges to overcome

While the benefits are clear, building diverse, women-led UX teams comes with challenges:

• Structural barriers — stereotypes, lack of representation, and slower career progression for women in tech.
• Tokenism — women included symbolically without real decision-making power.
• The need for genuine inclusion — hiring diverse talent is not enough; organizations must empower and listen to them.
• Proper processes — such as diverse user testing, iterative research, and continuous feedback loops.

Conclusions and recommendations

To maximize the impact of diversity in UX, organizations should:

1. Run a diversity audit — assess who’s in the team and who’s missing.
2. Foster inclusive culture — create safe environments where all voices matter.
3. Engage diverse users early — test prototypes across different groups.
4. Develop women leaders — provide mentoring, growth, and leadership opportunities.
5. Measure impact — track both qualitative (satisfaction, inclusivity) and quantitative (conversion, retention, error rates, business KPIs) outcomes.

Final takeaway

Diversity in UX — especially in women-led studios — is not just a moral imperative, it’s a business advantage. It ensures products reflect real users, reduces design blind spots, and increases long-term value. For leaders, agency owners, or product managers, the message is clear: investing in women, inclusion, and diversity is not a cost — it’s a strategic asset.

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