Designers talk a big game about "empathy" for users. But empathy without respect is nothing more than pity.

And nowhere is the lack of respect more apparent than in how LLMs have been productized and adopted. The "human in the loop" excuse pushes consequences down onto scrupulous employees and ultimately onto the very users on whom we claim to be centered.

The consequences of disrespectful software are now becoming apparent across tech.

productpicnic.beehiiv.com/p/em…

#UX #UXDesign #LLM #AI #tech

Empathy and delight mean nothing when the software is disrespectful

Software is now something we do TO users, instead of something that we make FOR them.

^{Pavel Samsonov (The Product Picnic)}

Much of AI "productivity gains" come from managers implicitly trusting an LLM to do a good job, and suspending the onerous micromanagement that humans employees get subjected to.

You can do that without paying Anthropic a single penny. It just requires letting the experts you hired do their jobs.

productpicnic.beehiiv.com/p/tr…

#LLM #AI #tech #UXDesign #UX #SoftwareDevelopment #USerresearch

Trust is not built on craft alone

No amount of tooling will let product teams move faster than being trusted to own their process. That trust is earned through rigor rather than mere velocity.

^{Pavel Samsonov (The Product Picnic)}