Osman Gunes Cizmeci on Why Designers Will Write More in 2026

For years, writing was treated as a secondary skill in UX and UI design. Designers were expected to sketch, prototype, and test, while words were often left to product managers, marketers, or content teams. But as AI reshapes how digital products are built, many in the industry believe that balance is about to change.

“Writing is becoming one of the most important design skills again,” says Osman Gunes Cizmeci, a New York–based UX and UI designer and writer. “In 2026, designers won’t just design interfaces. They’ll describe intent, define constraints, and communicate meaning through language.”

From Pixels to Prompts

The rise of generative design tools has quietly shifted how designers work. Instead of starting with blank canvases, many now begin with text. Natural-language prompts generate layouts, suggest components, and even define interaction patterns.

“What you write determines what the system creates,” Cizmeci explains. “If your prompt is vague, the output is vague. If your language is thoughtful, the design improves. That changes how we think about authorship.”

This shift has made writing a core part of the design process. Designers are no longer just arranging elements visually. They are articulating goals, tone, and hierarchy through words before any interface appears.

Osman Gunes Cizmeci on Writing as a Design Tool

According to Cizmeci, this trend is not limited to AI prompting. Documentation, design rationale, and narrative thinking are becoming essential as products grow more complex.

“When systems adapt and change over time, someone has to explain why,” he says. “Designers are increasingly responsible for making those decisions legible to users, teams, and stakeholders.”

He points to adaptive UX and agentic systems as key drivers. When software acts on behalf of users, clarity becomes critical. Designers must describe what the system is doing, what it has learned, and how users can intervene.

“That explanation is writing,” Cizmeci notes. “And bad writing leads to bad UX.”

The Return of Narrative Thinking

As AI accelerates production, design teams are producing more artifacts than ever. Without strong narrative framing, those artifacts can become disconnected or contradictory.

“Writing helps unify systems,” Cizmeci says. “It creates a shared understanding of what the product is supposed to do and why.”

He has observed teams using written principles and micro-manifestos to guide AI-assisted workflows. Instead of relying solely on visual consistency, they define values, constraints, and intent in language that both humans and machines can interpret.

“This is where design and storytelling overlap,” he explains. “You’re not just designing screens. You’re designing a point of view.”

Writing for Humans and Machines

Another reason writing is resurging in UX is that designers are now communicating with two audiences at once. One is the user. The other is the system itself.

“When you prompt an AI tool, you are effectively writing instructions for a collaborator,” Cizmeci says. “That collaborator does not understand intuition. It understands language.”

This has elevated the importance of precision, tone, and structure. Designers must learn how to express abstract concepts like trust, calm, or confidence in ways that can be interpreted consistently.

“It’s not copywriting in the traditional sense,” Cizmeci adds. “It’s closer to systems thinking expressed through language.”

Implications for Design Education

Cizmeci believes this shift will have lasting consequences for how designers are trained and evaluated. Tool mastery will matter less than the ability to think critically and communicate clearly.

“In interviews, I’m less interested in how many tools someone knows,” he says. “I want to know how they explain their decisions. Can they write clearly about their work? Can they articulate trade-offs?”

He expects design programs to place greater emphasis on writing, not as an accessory but as a core competency. Design briefs, rationales, and ethical considerations will increasingly be written artifacts, not just spoken ones.

A More Visible Design Voice

The renewed importance of writing also gives designers a stronger voice within organizations. Clear articulation of intent helps design influence strategy, not just execution.

“When you can write well, you can advocate for users more effectively,” Cizmeci says. “You can explain why a decision matters, not just what it looks like.”

This becomes especially important as AI-driven systems challenge traditional assumptions about control and agency. Designers who can explain those challenges in plain language are better positioned to shape outcomes.

Looking Toward 2026

As the industry heads into another year of rapid change, Cizmeci sees writing as a stabilizing force. “Tools will continue to evolve,” he says. “Language helps us slow down and think.”

In a landscape where interfaces are generated, adapted, and optimized at scale, writing becomes the anchor that keeps design human. It captures intent, values, and responsibility in a way no automation can replace.

“Design has always been about communication,” Cizmeci says. “We just forgot that words were part of the interface. In 2026, we’re remembering.”