Technology and AI at iN StudioPart 2: AI for Documents and Data
By Yigit Karanfil, Associate and Director of Technology
Part 2: AI for Documents and Data
At iN Studio, we view artificial intelligence as an enabler; one that enhances how we think, analyze, and create. Our goal is not to replace human expertise, but to amplify it: giving our teams the ability to access knowledge faster, work more efficiently, and make better-informed design decisions.
Following the principles outlined in Part 1, responsibility, creativity, and control, we’ve begun integrating AI tools into how we manage and interpret the vast amount of information that underpins every workplace project.
A Balanced Approach to AI in Design Practice
Large Language Models (LLMs) have transformed how designers and researchers engage with text and data. They excel at distilling large volumes of information, identifying meaningful connections, and helping teams navigate complex or fragmented datasets.
In a design environment, these capabilities can:
Accelerate research and design due diligence
Support programming and workplace strategy by synthesizing input from multiple sources
Enable more efficient communication and reporting
Improve access to institutional knowledge and historical project data
However, AI is not without its limitations. LLMs can produce inaccurate results, overlook contextual nuances, or reflect biases in the data they were trained on. To ensure reliability, our implementation emphasizes human oversight, validation, and traceability at every step. Each output is reviewed, verified, and contextualized before it becomes part of our design process or client communications.
This approach lets us benefit from AI’s speed and pattern recognition while maintaining the accuracy and accountability our clients expect.
Putting AI to Work
We’ve applied AI to strengthen several aspects of our workflow, particularly those involving information synthesis and knowledge management.
Design Research and Codes:
AI helps our teams navigate complex regulatory frameworks and technical standards by improving how we find and interpret information. Rather than searching by keywords, we can now explore topics by intent, reducing time spent on routine research and allowing more space for design thinking.Workplace Strategy and Feedback:
AI-assisted text analysis allows us to review large sets of survey responses or stakeholder feedback with greater speed and clarity. These tools help uncover recurring themes, sentiment, and outlier perspectives that might otherwise be missed in manual review, giving our strategists a more complete understanding of workplace culture and priorities.Project and Business Intelligence:
We use AI selectively to help interpret structured project data such as schedules, budgets, and resourcing, turning raw information into clear insights. By integrating AI into our analytical workflows, we can spot trends earlier, improve forecasting, and maintain better visibility across multiple projects and teams.
In all cases, AI acts as a collaborative assistant, not a decision-maker. It supports our designers, strategists, and project managers by handling information-heavy tasks, freeing them to focus on the creative and human aspects of our work.
Keeping Humans in the Loop
Our use of AI is grounded in the belief that great design depends on human judgment. Technology may accelerate analysis, but it’s people who bring meaning, empathy, and context to the results.
That’s why we maintain a deliberate balance: structured data and proven processes form the foundation, while AI is applied carefully to add clarity and speed where it makes a measurable difference. Every implementation is tested for reliability, user experience, and ethical considerations before becoming part of our practice.
As AI technologies continue to evolve, we’ll continue refining how they integrate into our workflows, always with the same goal: to enable creativity without compromising accuracy or control.
Next in the series: AI for Visualization exploring how emerging image-generation tools are transforming the way we imagine, iterate, and communicate design concepts!
Photography: Lutron Electronics Co., Inc.
