'Sentient Design' provides a framework for creating AI-mediated experiences that are conceived and compiled in the moment, weaving intelligence into the interface itself. It addresses how designers can gain literacy in machine learning and AI to create valuable new experiences. The book identifies 14 new experience patterns that AI can take beyond dialogue and chat, highlighting opportunities for intelligent and adaptive interfaces. It encourages designers to move beyond efficiency-driven applications of AI and focus on human-centered design. 'Sentient Design' also explores the evolving role of designers in an AI-driven world, emphasizing collaboration with AI and the importance of ceding control to users.
In this classic children's book, Harold, a curious four-year-old boy, decides to go for a walk in the moonlight. With his magic purple crayon, he draws a moon, a path, and various landscapes to navigate through his adventure. Harold encounters a dragon, sails across waters, enjoys a picnic of nine flavors of pies, and even flies in a hot-air balloon. Eventually, tired and seeking his bedroom window, Harold draws his way back home and to bed. The book celebrates the power of imagination and creativity.
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As designers, we’re entering a new era. AI isn’t just a tool we use behind the scenes, but a collaborator we’re designing with and for. It’s a shift that challenges our assumptions, pushes us beyond static interfaces, and calls on us to rethink what it means to create experiences in an intelligent, adaptive world.
In this episode, we talk with Josh Clark and Veronika Kindred—co-authors of the upcoming book Sentient Design—about what it takes to design for this new frontier. Josh brings three decades of UX wisdom, while Veronika, a rising voice in the field (and, as it turns out, Josh’s daughter), brings fresh perspective as part of the first generation of AI-native designers. Together, they offer a framework for designing interfaces that respond to context, intent, and user agency—without falling into the trap of chatbots-as-default.
We dig into why chat interfaces might be holding us back, explore new experience patterns that go way beyond conversation, and discuss what it means to design systems where users can essentially draw their own interfaces into existence. We also tackle the thorny questions around trust, transparency, and what happens when we cede control back to users in ways that could make traditional designers uncomfortable.
Learn more about Josh and Veronika:
Josh Clark is the founder and principal of Big Medium, where he leads UX design efforts that help complex organizations navigate digital transformation and design for emerging technologies. His work spans AI, connected devices, responsive design, and enterprise-scale design systems. Known for shaping future-friendly interfaces, Josh has helped organizations adapt their products and processes to meet rapidly evolving user needs.
Veronika Kindred is a designer and researcher at Big Medium, where she collaborates with leading companies to define and solve complex design challenges. She is co-author with Josh Clark of Sentient Design: AI and the New Digital Experience, a forthcoming book from Rosenfeld Media that explores how AI is reshaping user experience and digital interfaces.
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