Prompt-based interaction Usability
Current prompt-based AI interfaces present significant usability challenges. The articulation barrier may exclude half the population in rich countries, and the opaque nature of AI makes it difficult for users to discover its full potential.
AI: First New UI Paradigm in 60 Years
Publisher: Nielsen Norman Group
The Articulation Barrier: Prompt-Driven AI UX Hurts Usability
Publisher: Jakob Nielsen
The current chat-based interaction style also suffers from requiring users to write out their problems as prose text. Based on recent literacy research, I deem it likely that half the population in rich countries is not articulate enough to get good results from one of the current AI bots.
How AI Succeeds (and Fails) to Help People Find Information
Publisher: Nielsen Norman Group
The opaque, nebulous nature of generative AI makes it incredibly difficult for users to discover, explore, and understand its full range of possible uses, and how to achieve those outcomes.
How AI Literacy Shapes GenAI Use
Publisher: Nielsen Norman Group
Two distinct capabilities shaped people’s success when using genAI for information seeking:
- Prompt fluency: The ability to communicate intent, constraints, and context so that genAI can produce useful outputs.
- Output literacy: The ability to evaluate genAI outputs — for example, spotting gaps or misunderstandings, noticing potential hallucinations, seeking sources, and crosschecking when accuracy matters.