[Weekly Retro] Principles for better GenAI product experiences
#212 - Mar.2025
Weekly Retro is a short e-mail with a wrap-up of ideas from the week, interesting links I found, and food for thought before you head off for the weekend.
Hi there!
💡 Here is a quick idea before you head off to the weekend:
Here are simple principles you can use to design better experiences for GenAI products:
- Underpromise. This might sound counterintuitive, but the better you handle expectations while being transparent about how the system works, the more you build customer trust. Many GenAI tools create frustration by promising perfection they can't deliver. Build confidence. Later, you will be able to commit to bigger promises.
- Probe. Continuous probing with suggestions on next steps is a great way to guide customers to their end goal. Rather than assuming what users want, create conversational touchpoints that clarify intent and offer alternatives.
- Calibrate. Align your experience through feedback loops from customers. The iterative reinforcement cycle isn't just critical—it's how you tell customers: "I hear you." Share evidences on how their feedback is improving the system.
- Create guardrails. Help users understand what's possible and what's not. Set clear boundaries. Provide examples of effective prompts, and create safety mechanisms that prevent frustration. Good guardrails don't feel restrictive—they feel like helpful guidance.
Makes sense?
🧠 Ideas from this week
Inside-out or outside-in?
#211 - Knowledge bites on tech innovation, design, and creativity. Inside-out vs. out-side. This shift in mindset makes all the difference
César Rodríguez
🤖 Technology worth tracking
Manus has the goal for becoming a general AI agent for both professional and personal tasks. In Manus founder's words: "...potentially a glimpse into AGI". Is it?
👨🏻💻 Interesting links
Why large language models are mysterious – even to their creators | Aeon Videos
River bank or bank account? How chatbots learned to make the quantum leap to context by training on billions of prompts
Spreading Slow Ideas
We yearn for frictionless technological solutions. But people talking to people is still the way that norms and standards change.
Atul Gawande
Tyler Cowen, the man who wants to know everything
He is Silicon Valley’s favourite economist. Does his lust for knowledge have a place in the age of AI?
The Economist
🖋️ Quote of the week
“The more constraints one imposes, the more one frees one's self.” – Igor Stravinsky
