This study investigates the implementation of a visual exploratory mapping for Design project development. Design solutions necessitate a strong user focus to achieve successful innovation, addressing the complexity of diverse user groups and shifting market needs. The research updates previous research on physical visual mapping methodology by providing an update on the visualization of persona daily tasks and the implementation of AI reasoning through the screening of physical mapping using AI feedback. The project’s core involved generating ideas by searching for problems within a consumption context. The aim was to provide students with design thinking strategies that would leverage research methods in their project practices. The study, conducted with Portuguese design students, utilized the Persona Method Through Visual Clues (PMVC) and its augmented version, PMVC+, which incorporates socioeconomic scenarios. Students developed personas and connected them to contemporary news sources, subsequently using AI to refine identified thematic codes. This pedagogical approach, which combines physical visual mapping with AI-driven prompt design, has significantly contributed to advancing students’ argumentative skills and fostering autonomous learning by refining their communicative precision and analytical rigor. The integration of AI reframed the problem definition in design education, enabling students to systematically analyze problem spaces, identify critical issues, and correlate problem definition with creativity. The Zone of Proximal Development provided a critical framework for this process, highlighting the importance of scaffolding new skills, particularly in the effective use of AI as a tool for design education. Due to the nature of the research, related to the ideation context, the examples portrayed in this article are merely illustrative of the array of solutions explored.