If you've read my recent article on new SharePoint page features, you know how Microsoft keeps innovating and raising the bar to make the platform more user-friendly and efficient for internal communicators.

The latest SharePoint addition, AI-powered design ideas, is here to take your content creation further by streamlining design processes.

In this post, I'll be looking at how the new SharePoint design ideas feature can help internal comms professionals produce visually appealing, engaging pages with minimal effort. This feature won't just save you time but also ensure content adheres to best design practices. That's extra brain power left to work on your next comms campaign.

Introducing: AI-powered design ideas

So, what's this new feature all about? Similar to PowerPoint Designer, this new feature will offer intelligent design ideas as you go through and create or update pages in SharePoint. It will offer design suggestions (or inspirations) without generating new or altering your existing written content. For example, it will identify the content you're writing about and make suggestions on:

  • layout
  • color schemes
  • backgrounds
  • text format
  • image webparts
  • and other visual enhancements

You can then play around with the suggestions.

This integration into existing SharePoint page authoring and editing is just as seamless as we have come to expect from Microsoft. With a single click, you can apply these suggestions and transform your content into a more polished and professional communications tool for your organization.

The value of design ideas for internal communicators

You know I'm all about working out how new Microsoft updates can benefit internal communications professionals. The following are the benefits of AI-powered design ideas:

  • Time-saver: When you automate design decisions, you reduce the time spent on formatting and layout, which lets you focus on perfecting the message you want to communicate.
  • Good design communicates better: We know that well-designed pages capture attention and make it easier for employees to engage with content. Even non-design-oriented people can create aesthetically pleasing pages with AI-driven suggestions. For example, AI might suggest a layout highlighting crucial information better or choose a color scheme that matches properly for a consistent visual experience.
  • Democratize design: Not every internal comms professional has a background in design. With the addition of this feature, the playing field is leveled, and anybody can create visually appealing content. As a bonus, you'll likely learn some design tips and tricks from the AI!
  • Encourage creativity: Communicators can experiment with different layouts and styles without risking making bad design choices. In the long run, this leads to more creativity.

Conclusion

AI is becoming a part of everyone's daily workflow with everything from text, code, and image generation to information extraction, process automation, and more.

In SharePoint, AI empowers users by taking over routine tasks and allowing them to focus on strategic goals. This feature is just a tiny glimpse at the potential for more innovative, more efficient communication processes in the future. SharePoint Premium already offers a range of AI-powered features to enhance document management, and Copilot for SharePoint will take the overall AI experience to a new level.

Let's embrace these tools and enhance our comms strategies along the way! That's the best way to stay ahead of the curve in a rapidly evolving digital landscape.

Thanks for reading,
Jarbas