As AI-driven systems diminish the need for traditional user interfaces, the role of designers must evolve beyond just pixels and layouts. The real challenge lies in understanding how AI transforms user experiences and redefining what it means to be a UX designer in this new era. Will you adapt, or will you be left behind?
In the past, user experience (UX) was largely equated with user interface (UI), and this made sense. The UI was the main point of interaction, which is why we relied on graphical tools like Figma, Sketch, and InVision to create our designs and prototypes. The visual elements we developed were central to the user experience.
However, this perspective is undergoing a significant shift. If you look at most startups in the tech sector, you’ll notice a trend towards minimal interfaces. In fact, the most effective interface for AI may be one that is almost nonexistent. Consider this: what if there were no interface at all?
What matters is UX, not UI.
To paraphrase Alan Cooper in “The Inmates Are Running the Asylum,” AI-first systems—especially those that are agent-first—are akin to “dancing robotware.” Just because these robots aren’t yet performing like Baryshnikov doesn’t mean they lack value; this “dancing robotware” already adds significant value to various workflows. However, because AI is inherently “dancing robotware,” the user interface (UI) is not critically important to the customer.
In other words, AI-first applications are not particularly sensitive to UI design, while they are extremely sensitive to user experience (UX). Sure, having the right buttons and effective ways to display outputs is necessary, and certain design choices can enhance usability. However, if you focus solely on where to place buttons, choosing colors, and labeling tabs and controls, you are, to put it mildly, missing the point entirely.
Let me give you a real-world example: let’s say you are creating an AI-first application that will quickly summarize a document. How that summary is presented in the UI almost does not matter.
- Background color? Nope. Not a chance.
- Font sizes? Don’t make me laugh.
- Where is it on the page? Does not matter. Pick a spot. Any spot. Release the feature, move it post-Beta if you find a better spot.
- Is the content in a frame or uses the whole page? Hmmm, maybe that matters a little. But not really. Not unless you completely screw up the display (but most of us know how not to do that… Right?
So, what matters in the AI-first UX?
- The length of the content.
- Organization of the summary.
- Its completeness.
- Its accuracy, reliability, readability, and scannability.
- Unique bespoke data from your enterprise or your customers that is used to add value to the AI summary.
- If it gets used alongside the original document, or if it has a life of its own.
- If it has an API.
- How quickly it is delivered to the customer.
- Etc.
In other words,
What matters is UX. NOT UI.
