Generative AI has become a recent game changer in the delivery of customer experiences. While we are focused on using AI to improve customer experience, I believe the more we understand and focus on customer needs—the thing that matters the most—the more avenues we select to leverage AI when creating, the more great experiences will open up for our customers.
We’ve heard our customers convey their needs loudly and clearly: They need products that are accurate.
Recently, we conducted a global survey of more than 1,200 professionals across an array of industries to gauge the impact that generative AI is having, and will continue to have, on the future of professionals. Our survey showed that 67% of respondents believe AI will have a transformational impact on their profession within the next five years, and 45% are optimistic about AI’s ability to improve productivity for their customers, for their in-house talent, and for the environment.
While survey respondents demonstrated a largely positive view of generative AI, they noted that accuracy was at the top of their minds. Consequently, as designers, one of our biggest challenges in leveraging AI as part of the solutions we deliver is the higher level of focused trust—that is, trust that the content is accurate and real.
NO ROOM FOR ERROR
Professionals who serve to advance critical systems around the world—such as lawyers and accountants—need to be able to ascertain that the information they receive is factually correct and contextually relevant. They also need to quickly understand what sources an AI-driven tool used to derive this information, which in their mind, further reinforces the accuracy in what they are seeing. This makes sense, given the high-stakes nature of their work.
Of course, it also must remain accessible to all users, including those with physical or visual challenges, a concern our design team always keeps top of mind.
CREATING TRUSTWORTHY AND ENGAGING PRODUCTS
We need to ensure that our product and design teams create products that meet our customers’ (and their clients’) goals. For us, when we build products—and even more so now in the age of AI—we focus on three areas:
1. TRANSPARENCY
Customers are growing wary of where the original content on which a product draws comes from. They need to trust that the source content used to generate responses is truthful and relevant. For us, we then need to figure out how to demonstrate this transparency in a way that provides comfort to the customer, while not taking away from the overall experience. This may mean showing more of the “sausage-making” than one usually would. It may be listing the sources in an easily accessible way. We focus on creating the confidence our customers need so they get the full benefit of the solution we are offering.
2. QUALITY
When building and designing, we check to ensure the models are trained to deliver high-quality and relevant content, and most importantly, not hallucinating in a harmful way. Is it credible? Relevant? Recent? We need to know that this is the type of content that the user would be seeking out independently if the AI experience was not available. The more times your customer thinks, “This is what I would have used to build this answer,” the more they will grow to embrace and depend on your solution.
3. VALUE AND EXPERIENCE
Lastly, one of the most important considerations is if the interaction with the AI tool saves time for the user or not, and if it’s an enjoyable experience. Does it allow the user to optimize work processes, streamline workflows, eliminate redundancies, or surface information that would otherwise be inaccessible? A great design considers the needs of the user, including concerns, limitations, or difficulties that they may have, and then applies AI solutions to the areas that drive the most customer value. Companies need to keep in mind that if a tool does not accomplish these goals—even if it provides good information—users will be unlikely to adopt it.
FINAL THOUGHTS
In design, our goal is always to create the best, most habitual experiences for our customers, through products they love to work with and engage with, that save them time and make their lives easier.
AI-driven technologies can accelerate the goals that we have in design—to empower professionals to demonstrate more value to their customers and organizations in the form of deeper insights, more thorough advice, and better work products, all at greater depth and speed than ever before.
However, we have to make sure we understand our customers, taking into account the things they dislike, as well as the things they need and value. At this intersection, a trusted space is created—one that not only allows our customers to work better but ultimately makes the world a better place.