Ideo designer: whether an AI feature helps users complete tasks should be the standard

Savannah Kunovsky, head of Ideo's industrial product design team, proposes that the standard for judging whether an AI feature is just a gimmick is whether it can help users do what they want to do. She cites the Humane AI Pin as an example, saying it replaced familiar interfaces with slower, less reliable interactions; when cars moved air conditioning and volume controls into touchscreens, drivers were forced to take their eyes off the road, and Europe's Euro NCAP therefore began giving extra points to models that retain physical buttons. She suggests product teams first clarify user needs, then decide whether AI should play a core, supporting, or absent role in the interaction, rather than using AI to replace things that already work well.

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