Design-athon: Co-Creating with AI

About the Design-athon

The UX Design-athon: Co-Creating with AI is an immersive UX sprint that explores how designers can effectively partner with AI to accelerate creativity, ideation, and problem-solving.

Participants will work in small, skill-balanced teams to tackle real-world challenges presented by local nonprofits, startups, and civic partners. Throughout the sprint, teams are encouraged to leverage AI tools such as Google Gemini for research and ideation, Figma for wireframing and prototyping, and Google Stitch to accelerate design workflows and generate concepts.

This experience simulates a modern product workflow — where human-centered design meets AI-powered efficiency — while maintaining a strong focus on usability, accessibility, and real community impact.

This half-day design sprint brings Charlotte’s UX community together to co-create meaningful, community-centered solutions using both human insight and AI — all while walking away with real, portfolio-worthy work.

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Two Skill Tracks + Two Project Types

Track 1: Emerging Designers
Ideal for students, career switchers, and junior UX professionals. Focused on guided use of AI tools, structured UX frameworks, and foundational deliverables.

Track 2: Mid-Level Designers
Designed for experienced UX practitioners ready to integrate AI more strategically — focusing on workflow optimization, feature thinking, and higher-fidelity outputs.

Community Impact Projects
Work on challenges from local nonprofits and civic initiatives focused on accessibility, education, economic mobility, and digital inclusion.

Growth & Innovation Projects
Tackle opportunities from startups and community-driven businesses looking to improve onboarding, engagement, and service experiences.

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About our Partner

Roderick Wilkins Jr. is not just a UX designer, he's a storyteller, innovator, and a passionate advocate for user-centric designs. Boasting three years of impactful work at Bank of America, he seamlessly bridges the gap between visual allure and functionality. Roderick's academic pursuits took him from Florida A&M University, where he achieved a BS in Information Technology, to Louisiana State University for an MS in Digital Media Arts & Engineering.

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Host or Publisher Harvey B. Gantt Center for African-American Arts + Culture