Outgrowing the UX Greenhouse
Quote
“If people think all we do is make things pretty, we won’t have jobs for very long.”
For readers
Writing
Articles on AI products, AI research, and the people those products are for.
Vibe Architects: Agentic Vibe Coders
Quote
“Going with the vibe is not a shortcut to the ‘real’ way of using these tools — it is the practice.”
AI Agents as Users
Takeaway
Agents already fill out forms and complete purchases on our sites. Teams that invested in accessibility have been building interfaces agents can navigate, maybe without realizing it.
AI Brain Fry Is a Design Problem
Quote
“Humans are notoriously bad at multitasking. With agentic AI, the cognitive impacts are even more severe.”
Demand Accuracy in Your AI Tools: Lessons from Baymard Institute
Takeaway
An AI UX tool that’s right 70% of the time sounds cheap and good enough. It isn’t, because you can’t tell which recommendations are the wrong ones.
Google AI Mode: Powerful Search, Poor Usability
Finding
Four of our seven participants hadn’t noticed AI Mode before we pointed them to it. Help text is only useful if people see it.
Discoverability of AI Features: Learn from Amazon’s Mistakes
Finding
Amazon’s site-wide AI chat offered a lot of value. None of our participants noticed it until a researcher pointed it out.
AI Features Must Solve Real User Problems
Quote
“The only thing worse than an unnecessary AI chat is an unnecessary AI chat that blocks a useful feature like search.”
Synthetic Users: If, When, and How to Use AI-Generated “Research”
Takeaway
Synthetic users give shallow, overly favorable feedback. Use them to supplement real research, never to replace it.