A Designer’s Guide to UI/UX Patterns for AI Products: Series 2 — Is Your AI a Guide, Companion, or…

🌈 Abstract

The article discusses three common patterns of AI-powered product experiences: The Guide, The Companion, and The Driver. It explores how these AI roles shape user experiences and provides design considerations for each pattern.

🙋 Q&A

[01] The Guide

1. Questions related to the content of the section:

• The article defines a product experience as a journey to find information, with taking action based on that information being part of the process.
• It discusses two primary navigation patterns in digital products: Ask (search) and Browse (navigating through page elements).
• A new "prompt-dominant" user behavior is emerging, where users prefer to ask for direct help from AI rather than searching or browsing.
• The article suggests that the ideal moment to introduce an AI guide experience is during the onboarding process or initial landing, before users become fully familiar with the product.
• The depth of interaction with the AI guide should be high and focused, serving as the primary element soliciting user input, similar to a receptionist in a building.

[02] The Companion

1. Questions related to the content of the section:

• The Companion AI is like a helpful colleague who walks alongside the user, offering assistance when needed, without being intrusive or disrupting the main tasks.
• The key design considerations for the Companion AI are:
  • Visually, it shouldn't feel "in your face"
  • Task failure should not be a roadblock for the user
  • Users should be able to complete their main tasks without relying on the AI

[03] The Driver

1. Questions related to the content of the section:

• In the "Driver" experience, the AI is the main provider of information and handles the entire user journey from start to finish.
• These AI-driven products lack a stable context for the user to be grounded in, unlike traditional digital products.
• The article discusses the importance of "Visibility of System Status" and how it operates differently in AI-driven experiences, where the user is not moving through distinct points but witnessing a shifting context.
• Visual cues that hint at transience, like dimming or fading out previous sections, can be used to reinforce that the context is fluid and not meant to be revisited.

[04] How AI-powered experiences could improve Web Accessibility

• AI-powered prompting could transform the experience for users with visual impairments, who currently have to listen to every HTML element read by screen readers, including those they may not be interested in.
• Having AI always on, ready to assist, could open up a whole new level of user experience, where users can simply ask for help instead of enduring a never-ending lecture from the screen reader.