User Experience for AI
The best AI interface is often no interface at all.
AI UX breaks every rule you learned in traditional product design. The input is ambiguous, the output is unpredictable, and the user doesn't know what to expect.
What you'll learn
- Why chatbots are usually the wrong interface
- Designing for uncertainty and variable output quality
- The "edit, don't create" interaction pattern
- Loading states, streaming, and perceived performance
Stop Building Chatbots
The default AI interface is a chat window. It's almost always wrong. Chat puts the burden on the user to know what to ask, how to phrase it, and what's possible. That's a terrible experience for anyone who isn't already an AI power user.
Instead, build structured interfaces. Buttons, dropdowns, templates, and pre-filled forms. Guide the user toward the input your model works best with. A form that says "paste your job description here" converts ten times better than a blank chat box that says "how can I help?"
Edit, Don't Create
The most successful AI interaction pattern is: the AI generates a first draft, and the user edits it. This works for emails, code, designs, summaries, and recommendations. The user feels in control. The AI handles the blank-page problem.
Design your UI around editing. Inline editing, track changes, version comparison, "regenerate this section" buttons. The AI is the first drafter. The human is the editor-in-chief. This relationship feels natural because it mirrors how humans already collaborate.
Interface Patterns That Work
Structured input + AI output: Form fields → generated result (Canva's Magic Write)
Select + transform: Highlight text → AI action menu (Notion AI)
Ambient AI: AI works in background, surfaces suggestions (Grammarly)
Blank chat window: "Ask me anything" with no guidance (most AI wrappers)
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