We often hear about shiny new tools that change everything (yet again). But in practice, most people don’t need more tools to deal with in their daily lives. What we actually need are better integrations of useful capabilities that neatly align with our existing and established mental models.
Users don’t get excited about shiny new “smart” workflows, or navigating Terminal commands, or jumping between endless back-and-forth chat interactions. They need seamless integrations of useful features to address problems with high severity, high frequency, and a high level of frustration.
1. AI-First vs. Quiet AI
I’ve always been puzzled by the notion of “AI-first” products. They might speed up production, but we need to know really well first what we actually want to build. AI-first often doesn’t account for years of small and big design decisions that have shaped expectations and mental models over the years.
