Humans in control

Design a content-savvy AI Agent

@TheMikeJang

CC-NA-3.0

https://slides.com/mike-1/button

Humans decide
Content Designers build the tools

Talk title: Humans in control: Design a content-savvy AI Agent

Links

Live:             https://slides.com/mike-1/button/live

Later:             https://slides.com/mike-1/button/

Talk title: Humans in control: Design a content-savvy AI Agent

HAL

2001

https://slides.com/mike-1/button

Inspiration

Talk title: Humans in control: Design a content-savvy AI Agent

Principal Technical Writer

 

Product Documentation

 

Mission

 

 

  • Make every word earn its place

Pixabay CC0

Talk title: Humans in control: Design a content-savvy AI Agent

Background

Content Design

We help users make decisions

https://slides.com/mike-1/button

We want to "unblock" users

Our style guides drive "helpful" text

Figma and Microsoft

Figma: UX Writers create markdown skills for agents

https://slides.com/mike-1/button

Microsoft: Content Designers design Copilot responses

 

  • I'll show you how

If AI were a teenager

Mindset for AI

With AI, everyone gets an army of 100 interns

Make AI work for you

  • AI answers the prompt

 

  • AI doesn't solve problems

 

  • Until you provide detailed instructions

https://slides.com/mike-1/button

 

UX Message Writing Buddy

Fantasy Football and Content Design

Talk title: Humans in control: Design a content-savvy AI Agent

Who should I start?

UNTRAINED AI
"Pick up player X"
OPTION 1: Recommended
 
Player X
  • Highest projected points
  • Best matchup
OPTION 2: Safer
 
Player Y
  • Lower ceiling
  • Good if protecting a lead
OPTION 3: If behind
 
Player Z
  • Boom-or-bust
  • High-risk high reward

Better answer: it depends

 

Result: almost won!

 

Wordiest

 

Decision requirements

 

Opportunity: progressive disclosure

Cleanest

 

Minimal text

 

Best if the UX is crowded

Balanced

 

Assumes user knowledge

 

Minor detail for edge cases

 

Link to docs

 

 

Three tier model

Big picture

Style guide

Instructions and Skills

AI

Agent

Talk title: Humans in control: Design a content-savvy AI Agent

How AI can help with content design

  1.  Start with a style guide
  2.  Set up instructions
  3.  Organize the knowledge in AI
  4.  Test steps locally
  5.  Identify problems
  6.  Automate updates

https://slides.com/mike-1/button

Start with a Style Guide

  • Designed for humans
  • Content design skills for AI

Skills

  • Details

 

  • Reusable content design expertise

 

  • a reusable capability that can be invoked to perform a particular kind of task

Make it "easy" for ourselves

  1.  Know your product
  2. Set up instructions
  3.  One easy breath
  4.  Two thoughts
  5.  Minimize need for docs
  6.  Know your audience
  7.  Know your stakeholders
  8.  Start with the easy stuff
  9.  Harder stuff: do your homework
  10.  Use style guides (details)

-

-

-

-

-

-

 

-

-

-

-

-

-

 

https://slides.com/mike-1/button

AI models -- Best practices

  • Governing instructions
  • Details in separate files

Searching the database

 

Content in Markdown

 

Make it "easy" for ourselves

  • instructions.md

Now make it reusable

  1.  Know your product
  2. "Don't Make Me Think"
  3. Organize the knowledge for AI
  4.  Minimize need for docs
  5.  Know your audience
  6.  Know your stakeholders
  7.  Start with the easy stuff
  8.  Harder stuff: do your homework
  9.  Use style guides (details)

-

-

-

-

-

 

-

-

-

-

-

 

-

 

What we've done

  • 30 pages

 

  • 30 reusable skills

 

Make AI work for you

-

-

-

-

-

 

-

 

-

-

-

-

 

 

  1.  Start with a style guide
  2.  Set up instructions
  3.  Organize the knowledge in AI
  4.  Test steps locally
  5.  Identify problems
  6.  Update the style guide
  7.  Automate updates

https://slides.com/mike-1/button

Tip: pinned instructions

Formalize the Agent

Test time!

https://slides.com/mike-1/button

Before you deploy

  1.  Know your product
  2. "Don't Make Me Think"
  3.  Pull content from your style guide
  4. Organize the knowledge for AI
  5. Identify problems
  6.  
  7.  Minimize need for docs
  8.  Know your audience
  9.  Know your stakeholders
  10.  Start with the easy stuff
  11.  Harder stuff: do your homework
  12.  Use style guides (details)

-

-

-

-

-

 

-

-

-

-

-

 

https://slides.com/mike-1/button

Test Time, Part 2

Automate

  1.  Know your product
  2. "Don't Make Me Think"
  3.  One easy breath
  4.  Two thoughts
  5.  Minimize need for docs

  6.  Set up CI/CD

-

-

-

-

-

 

 

-

-

-

-

 

 Your style guide = Single source of truth

 

Talk title: Humans in control: Design a content-savvy AI Agent

Lessons Learned

 

Action Plan

 

https://slides.com/mike-1/button

Content designers build the (AI) tools

AI provides options

Humans choose the message

Action Plan

Talk title: Humans in control: Design a content-savvy AI Agent

Style Guide

The single source of truth

Talk title: Humans in control: Design a content-savvy AI Agent

Remember the BSoD

https://slides.com/mike-1/button

Potential solutions

For the record

Follow-up

Credits

  • Torrey Podmajersky (Button, "Strategic Writing for UX")
  • Jodie Putrino (F5)
  • Elmira Cheraghi (F5)
  • Maddy Snyder (Pendo)
  • UX Communities (Content + UX, We are Content Club)

Questions

@TheMikeJang

https://slides.com/mike-1/button