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ARTICLE | March 25, 2024 | VOICES

Designing for people in the age of AI

As AI-powered design experiences transform how people interact with technology, human needs must still come first
By Amy Lokey, Workflow contributor

When we have a great experience with a product or brand, whether it’s in our personal or professional life, it’s often because we feel heard. Our needs have been understood, anticipated, and met in an emotionally resonant way. 

However, in many cases, digital experiences make us feel like no one is listening.  

That’s changing—thanks to generative AI (GenAI). This language-based technology enables us to design experiences that are conversational. This makes interacting with digital technology simpler and more natural than ever before.

Language is humanity’s superpower. Since the beginning of humankind, we have used language to understand our world, communicate with each other, and give our experiences meaning. Using large language models (LLMs) like OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Anthropic’s Claude, we are increasingly able to interact with and request information from computers using natural language. All we need to do is ask.

So, what does a great design experience look like in the era of AI? While it’s important to continue pushing the envelope on experience, I’d argue that the answer is a lot less surprising—and more familiar—than you’d think.

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LLMs and GenAI do three things very well. First, they understand intent. When a user asks a virtual agent a question, GenAI can quickly ascertain what they need. The model isn’t simply matching keywords; it’s also interpreting the context, and it can perform highly accurate matching to the right solution, even deciphering tone to better understand the emotion behind the input.

Second, GenAI is incredible at summarization. Many companies have thousands of knowledge base articles, processes, and catalog items that would take a very long time for a human to summarize. GenAI can parse and summarize this content in seconds, saving people time they otherwise would have spent synthesizing data.

And third, GenAI, as the name implies, can generate content. At ServiceNow, we’re currently using GenAI to produce written-language content, turning vast amounts of data into succinct narratives. But GenAI also excels at creating videos and images, which can enhance the user experience by supplementing or replacing text. 

Many businesses are understandably rushing to apply GenAI everywhere. With its technical potential and ability to supercharge human productivity, however, it’s easy to lose sight of what’s important: the people this technology is intended to serve. In fact, keeping people front and center is crucial for creating good design experiences.

For customers and employees alike, a good experience has a few core elements. It’s well crafted, personal, resonant, dynamic, and enduring. Think of your smartphone. When you pick it up, you can see the thought and care that went into its design. You can customize the appearance of the home screen and the arrangement of your apps according to your taste. And because you enjoy the experience so much, you might recommend the phone to your friends and family. These are the hallmarks of good user experience. 

Just as good marketing doesn’t feel like marketing, a good experience is nearly invisible. The user doesn’t notice the complexity beneath the surface—they simply delight in the effortless experience and the value it provides.

On my team, we measure the quality of a user experience in terms of its concrete business value. While the idea of creating a seamless experience sounds great, it’s immaterial if you can’t track tangible ROI. Take chatbots, for example. Customer service agents frequently encounter a lot of friction once they start handling a high volume of messages and calls. Writing resolution notes to document what happened in a particular case can take a lot of time, and nobody likes doing it. Agents would much rather move on to a more interesting challenge. GenAI streamlines the help desk agent experience by automating and assisting tedious parts of the process, freeing up agents to accomplish more.

Here’s another example. Imagine you’re an employee who wants to order a new company laptop, but you don’t know the relevant policies, what’s available, or how to start the process. Rather than combing through dozens of help articles or creating a ticket, you can simply ask a GenAI-augmented chatbot how to do it. What used to be a cumbersome process is now an easy, helpful conversation that feels tailored to your needs. The result is a better employee experience, wherein you can complete the ordering process in seconds.

GenAI has the potential to change how people use technology. Yet we will realize this potential only if we maintain our focus on how technology can benefit real people. And that requires a firm grasp of user needs, ethical and inclusive design, measurable ROI, and a willingness to always learn and improve. The result will be design experiences that inspire and delight users. I would argue that’s a win for humanity.

 

GenAI has the potential to change how people use technology. Yet we will realize this potential only if we maintain our focus on how technology can benefit real people.

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Author

Amy Lokey is the global head of design for ServiceNow.
Amy Lokey is the global head of design for ServiceNow.
Articles by Amy Lokey