#ai-ux

#ai-ux

The majority of AI products remain tethered to a single, monolithic UI pattern: the chat box. While conversational interfaces are effective for exploration and managing ambiguity, they frequently become suboptimal when applied to structured professional workflows. To move beyond "bolted-on" chat, product teams must shift from asking where AI can be added to identifying the specific user intent and the interface best suited to deliver it.

As AI chat interfaces become more popular, users increasingly rely on AI outputs to make decisions. Without explanations, AI systems are black boxes. Explaining to people how an AI system has reached a particular output helps users form accurate mental models, prevents the spread of misinformation, and helps users decide whether to trust an AI output. However, the explanations currently offered by large language models (LLMs) are often inaccurate, hidden, or confusing.

Crafting a perfect prompt for AI chatbots is often a challenge - so much so that startups are creating roles for prompt engineers. Consumer-facing AI apps are increasingly adding features like suggestion buttons or autogenerated recommendations to nudge customers to use the chatbot more frequently and show them about what the app can do. Hero, a productivity startup founded by former Meta employees, announced a new autocompletion SDK today that will fill in prompts for you based on context.

One of the most persistent problems in AI products today is this: people still aren't sure what these systems are capable of, or how to get the best out of them. This is because most AI tools still greet users with a single blank box and a placeholder as vague as it is open-ended: "Ask anything." The result? Without clear guidance, users start crafting prompts in haste, iterate through endless revisions, lose control of the flow, and gradually pollute the context with fragmented instructions.

If you've used an AI product recently, you probably know that the technology is incredible. The UX? Not so much. Maybe you've gotten comfortable writing prompts or using simple one-click tools. But as AI interfaces start to take different forms, many of them are still kinda hard to figure out. Navigating them can be overwhelming. It doesn't feel like you're using these products so much as deciphering them. The engineering is powerful, but the flows don't make sense.