UI/UX Articles and Interesting Tidbits of the Week
November//8//2024
Here are some interesting finds on UI/UX of the week!
Following a brief break.
1.
AI Deceiving Humans. Another great reflection from The Next Web and author Shweta Singh, this time around focused on OpenAI’s newly released Strawberry program, and how it can almost emulate human thinking. The reflection is also an alert on the need for guidelines, on what ethics in reasoning actually are. If this is starting to sound eerily similar to Ash or even Bishop from the “Alien” series or even Hal from “2001”, that’s not entirely far-off. What those fictional works of art illustrate, in parallel with other works such as Isaac Asimov’s “I Robot”, is that unsanctioned power invariably produces warped or extreme outcomes. It’s a great reflection worth reading through. Highlight of the article includes:
“Open AI’s policy states that “medium risk” models can be released for wide use. In my view, this underestimates the threat. The deployment of such models could be catastrophic, especially if bad actors manipulate the technology for their own pursuits. This calls for strong checks and balances that will only be possible through AI regulation and legal frameworks, such as penalising incorrect risk assessments and the misuse of AI. The UK government stressed the need for “safety, security and robustness” in their 2023 AI white paper, but that’s not nearly enough. There is an urgent need to prioritise human safety and devise rigid scrutiny protocols for AI models such as Strawberry.”
2.
Differences Between Digital Products and Web Design. Succinct article from Paul Boag on the differences between Digital Product Experiences and Web Design. The article addresses aspects of friction, understanding user behavior, testing products with users, all aspects that are staples of any product design endeavor. I’ll personally add my take on this topic, and opine that Web Design is one of the directions that Digital Products can take. Applications built for a variety of devices is another, and the list goes on, but ultimately they’re all experiences that have a digital aspect to it. Digital experience is defined as “…the sum of a customer’s interactions with a brand across digital channels, such as websites, mobile apps, social media, and smart devices”, as defined by Gen AI. All that is part of this digital ecosystem should be conceived with a strategic product design mindset, including many of the aspects the author of this article emphasizes. Highlight of the article includes:
“The more we interact with a web app or website, the more important the overall user experience becomes. Users develop deeper connections with digital products. They also form more complex mental models of products they use often.”
3.
Building an AI-Powered Seach in Figma. Another great article from the Figma Blog and author Vincent van der Meulen, which details how a robust search experience, one that is powered by AI, was developed at Figma. It’s a fascinating case study since it details the thought process that drove the execution of the feature, as well as the scenarios that were considered when designing it and the inherent complexities/challenges the teams faced. It also highlights the Value Proposition they set out to deliver upon: enabling Designers to find projects and assets efficiently. Fascinating read. Highlight of the article includes:
“To address the full spectrum of designer needs, our solution had to deliver relevant results across the board — from exact matches to highly similar results to somewhat different options. The feature wouldn’t cut it unless we could serve up high-quality results at different similarity levels. Our research showed that users prefer to start with something closer or more similar, even when ultimately seeking diverse results. In other words, if we couldn’t prove we could find the needle in the haystack, designers wouldn’t trust the feature for broader exploration.”
