How UX Research for AI and machine learning (ML) is different from UX Research for design
Mar 18, 2024
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Dawn Procopio, founder of AI-Ethicist.com, shares her expertise as a veteran UX researcher with a background at Siemens, Meta, and Amazon Web Services. She discusses the unique challenges of UX research in AI and machine learning, contrasting it with traditional design approaches. The conversation highlights the critical intersection of ethics and UX, particularly in healthcare. Dawn emphasizes the importance of understanding user perceptions and aligning AI outputs with human needs to create effective and ethical technology.
UX researchers are essential in ensuring AI and ML models are aligned with human-centered needs and ethical standards.
Collaboration between UX researchers and machine learning experts is crucial for translating technical terms into user-centered concepts for effective model development.
Deep dives
The Role of UX Research in AI Development
UX researchers play a critical role in ensuring that AI and machine learning models are user-centered and ethically sound. Their insights are essential for aligning AI development with human needs and solving real-world problems. By understanding the nuances of user interaction, researchers can provide the human data necessary for training these models, making the development process more holistic. This involvement is especially vital in sensitive areas such as healthcare, where regulatory requirements mandate rigorous usability studies.
Understanding Problem Types in Machine Learning
UX researchers must grasp the distinctions between how machine learning professionals and UX practitioners understand problem types. While machine learning experts often focus on solution types—classification, regression, or clustering—UX researchers need to translate these technical terms into user-centered concepts. This interpretation ensures that the developed models align with actual user behavior and expectations, ultimately enhancing model performance. Miscommunication regarding problem types can lead to costly misalignments in model development, highlighting the need for collaboration.
Navigating Ethical Dilemmas in AI
The inclusion of sensitive variables, such as age or gender, in AI models introduces ethical concerns that UX researchers must address. Researchers should advocate for transparency and user comfort when AI systems infer sensitive information about users from their data. The impact of such decisions can significantly affect user experiences and outcomes, making it paramount to conduct thorough research on user perceptions. Ethical considerations around representation and inference in AI underscore the importance of UX research in guiding these complex interactions.
Performance Metrics and User Experience
Evaluation metrics in AI development must align with user experience goals, particularly in defining acceptable levels of false positives and false negatives. In scenarios like medical diagnoses, over-caution may dictate prioritizing avoiding false negatives to ensure patient safety, while in other contexts, such as product recommendations, the emphasis might shift to managing false positives. The collaboration between UX researchers and machine learning professionals is crucial to identify the most relevant metrics for user satisfaction. Effective communication around evaluation methods helps ensure that machine learning models meet user needs without causing unnecessary distress or confusion.
In this Insights Unlocked episode, Lawrence Williams talks with Dawn Procopio, founder and principal UX researcher at AI-Ethicist.com. They explore the critical role of UX researchers in ensuring that machine learning models are human-centered and ethically sound.
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