By Louise Macfadyen
Published by O’Reilly Media (2026)
Designing AI Interfaces is a practical guide for designers working at the forefront of human-AI interaction. Readers will learn how to guide effective user inputs, manage latency and hallucinations, present AI-generated content with clarity and control, and communicate memory and personalization transparently.
The book equips designers to embed feedback loops, navigate ethical risks, and design interfaces that make AI's reasoning legible without overwhelming users. Whether you're building a chatbot, an assistant, or a fully autonomous system, this book shows how to shape AI behaviors into humane, context-aware interfaces that support real user needs.
Demystifying AI for Designers
Introducing large language models and agentic AI, covering how they work, how they’re integrated into products, and what designers need to understand about reasoning, trust, and ethics.
Designing Effective User Inputs
How to support voice, text, and multimodal inputs, guide users toward successful prompts, reduce cognitive load, and handle ambiguity, consent, and legal considerations in data collection.
Managing AI Processing and Latency
How AI generates responses, the impact of latency on user experience, and design strategies like loading states and transparency mechanisms to maintain trust during generation.
Shaping and Presenting AI Output
The art of crafting clear, explainable, and adjustable outputs, allowing users to control tone, depth, and format while providing error recovery, refinement options, and oversight of autonomous actions.
Building and Communicating AI Memory
How memory functions in LLM systems, how to visualize context, personalize responsibly, and build trust through transparency—while addressing risks like over-reliance and loss of user agency.
Designing for Feedback and System Learning
How to embed feedback loops, measure agentic performance, support ongoing improvement, and communicate what the system learns—without compromising privacy or user control.
Early release chapters will be available O'Reilly’s platform (free with trial access). All feedback is incredibly welcome - please feel free to reach out!
If you'd like to be an early reviewer or simply stay up to date with the book, please sign up below, or send me a message at [email protected].
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