(1)
agentic
&
assistive
AI is not just reactive but takes initiative. Users delegate goals instead
of step-by-step tasks, and the system
executes multi-step workflows / sometimes autonomously.
This covers copilots that sit inside apps (like GitHub Copilot),
full-fledged agents that perform tasks across tools,
and background assistants
that monitor for triggers.
The challenge: visibility, interruptibility,
and trust. Users must understand what the agent
is doing and retain control without micromanaging.
"I tell it what I want, and it figures out how to make it happen, even if I’m not actively watching.”
Trust scaffolding, transparency, and strong failure recovery
Agentic & Assistive Interfaces move from assist me to act for me. They handle goals autonomously, proactively offer help, and adapt to context, but require trust scaffolding, transparency, and strong failure recovery.
use
cases
bad
(1)
High-stakes decisions without human oversight (medical diagnosis or treatment decisions, legal ruling, hiring / firing, child welfare)
(2)
Ambiguous or exploratory tasks like research without a defined question
(3)
Situations requiring emotional intelligence
(4)
Tasks where errors are invisible or costly
(5)
Highly-regulated or compliance-sensitive tasks (tax filing, financial reporting)
(6)
Real-time, life-critical systems (autonomous emergency response, power grids, water systems, military decisions)
good
(1)
Task delegation (booking, scheduling, automating workflows)
(2)
Information retrieval (research summaries, report generation)
(3)
Proactive recommendations (reminders, nudges, insights, travel booking, onboarding, data processing)
(4)
Multistep processes (travel booking, onboarding, data processing)
design
(1)
(1)
Loss of Control
Users may feel uneasy if the agent acts without confirmation.
(1)
(2)
Transparency vs. Cognitive Load
Showing every step can overwhelm, but hiding them can erode trust.
(1)
(3)
Failure Recovery
How the agent handles errors matters more than success.
(1)
(4)
Ethical Concerns
Data access, privacy, unintended actions.
(1)
(5)
Personality Drift
Too much persona can create false sense of capability.
(1)
(6)
key design questions
“When should the system ask for permission?”
“How much autonomy is acceptable for the user/task do?”
tooling
notes
prototyping
(1)
Use tools like Lovable, Replit, Magic Patterns, or Framer
(1)
to mock multi-step flows.
(2)
Prototype “what the agent is doing” screens
(1)
with progress indicators.
(3)
Use ChatGPT with custom GPTs/Actions
(1)
or Claude Projects or API playgrounds for prototyping.
(4)
Define when agent can act independently vs.
(1)
when it needs approval.
Technical Considerations
(1)
Memory management: What data persists between sessions? What are the conversation length limits?
(1)
What happens when context window fills up?
(2)
API orchestration & chaining (tools or APIs the agent will use) / error handling between chained calls (what if step 3 fails?)
(1)
retry logic, and rate limiting.
(3)
Latency: How to show progress during long-running tasks / streaming responses where possible
(1)
partial results (show what's ready while rest loads)
(4)
Timeout handling
(1)
(what if agent gets stuck?)
Team Collaboration
(1)
Align early with PMs
(1)
on levels of autonomy.
(2)
Define “kill switch” or human-override flows
(1)
with engineers.
(3)
Document what data the agent accesses (security + legal review)
(1)
+ data retention policies, third-party API usage (where is the data being sent?), user consent flows
(4)
Plan for evaluation
(1)
success metrics, edge case testing, audit logs.
user
intent
microcopy
delegate
“Do this for me”
plan
“Find the best option”
retrieve
“Bring me what I need”
monitor
“Let me know if something changes”
(1)
“My goal is to ___ - handle it end-to-end”
(2)
“find the best option and Book whatever aligns to my plan to ___”
(3)
“Make this ready for publishing.”
(4)
“Keep an eye on this document/project/thread.”
(1)
“Would you like me to handle that for you?”
(2)
“Here’s what I plan to do next — shall I proceed?”
(3)
“I’ve scheduled your meeting. Want me to add travel time?”
(4)
“Found 3 options for you. Should I pick the cheapest?”
(5)
“I’ll monitor this and notify you if it changes.”