Designing AI-Powered Experiences
AI is only as good as its interface. The most advanced AI models in the world won’t matter if people can’t or won’t use them. The problem is that most AI-powered products are designed with a focus on technology first, leaving user experience as an afterthought.
At New Friend, we believe AI should feel intuitive, transparent, and empowering, not like a black box. Designing for AI means more than just adding a chatbot to a product. It requires a deep understanding of how people think, explore, and make decisions when interacting with AI.
We put this philosophy into practice with FullContext, a full-stack demo platform that reimagines the buyer and seller experience. Our goal was to design an interface that made AI feel like a natural collaborator rather than an automated system spitting out results. This project reinforced a key belief of ours: AI is only useful if it’s designed to be used.
AI Needs More Than a Chatbot — It Needs a System
There’s a misconception that designing for AI just means creating a chatbot interface. But conversations alone don’t solve usability, trust, or workflow problems. AI-powered products need a system of interactions, controls, and affordances that help users engage with AI in meaningful ways.
For FullContext’s buyer copilot, we designed a chat-based experience that felt natural and familiar. The challenge was making AI-driven conversations feel structured enough to be useful while still being flexible enough to adapt to different buyer needs. The interface needed to encourage organic exploration while providing clear pathways to product information.
On the seller side, we focused on giving sales teams the ability to shape the AI-driven demo experience. Instead of relying on rigid automation, sellers could build, launch, and manage their own live demos. This balance between automation and control ensured that AI worked with humans rather than replacing them.
Designing for Trust and Clarity
One of the biggest barriers to AI adoption is trust. People hesitate to rely on AI when they do not understand how it works or where its information comes from. That is why transparency is a foundational principle.
With FullContext, we designed AI interactions that feel clear and reliable. The Buyer Copilot engages buyers instantly through interactive, AI-powered demos, allowing them to explore products and ask questions in real-time. This approach ensures that buyers receive personalized information tailored to their specific pain points, fostering a sense of trust and confidence in the AI’s responses.
Additionally, the system analyzes buyer questions, giving sellers insights into customer intent and product-market fit. This helps sales teams refine messaging and better understand what buyers need.
The Role of AI in Self-Guided Experiences
Self-service is becoming the norm, and AI is making it more powerful. Buyers expect to be able to explore products on their own without sitting through a scheduled sales demo or talking to a representative. AI-powered tools, when designed well, can create a personalized and self-directed experience that adapts to user needs.
With FullContext, we designed a buyer copilot that allows users to ask questions, uncover relevant product details, and receive personalized insights in real time. The AI adapts to each buyer’s journey, guiding them without forcing them into a rigid, pre-scripted demo.
Self-guided experiences will continue to evolve, and AI will play a critical role in shaping them. But without a well-designed interface, even the smartest AI can feel frustrating or impersonal. That’s why UX matters just as much as the technology behind it.
Good AI Needs Good UX
AI-powered products should make complex interactions feel simple, not more complicated. They should guide users toward insights rather than overwhelming them with information. They should feel like a natural extension of human workflows rather than an external system that users must figure out how to navigate.
Our work with FullContext reinforced why UX and UI matter in AI-driven experiences. The success of an AI product isn’t just about the strength of its model. It’s about whether people find it useful and usable.
We want to work with more companies that are building AI-powered tools and need a partner to design seamless, engaging, and human-centered experiences. If you’re creating an AI-driven product, let’s talk.
