How Thirdera Uses Generative AI to Enhance User Experiences

My role at Thirdera centers around crafting seamless and engaging user interactions. In a world where technology continually evolves, harnessing the potential of Generative AI (GenAI) has become a pivotal tool in our design arsenal. Let's delve into the realm of GenAI and its transformative influence on user experiences with the ServiceNow platform.

What is GenAI?

GenAI can learn from existing artifacts to produce new, lifelike creations at scale. The AI generates novel outputs based on patterns in training data, avoiding mere replication. This technology can create imaginative content including images, videos, music, speech, text, software code, and product designs.

Real-world examples

Prominent online platforms like Netflix and Spotify use GenAI to analyse user behaviours. This allows them to provide tailored recommendations that align with each user's distinct preferences. Personalisation boosts enjoyment and loyalty, demonstrating AI's profound impact on driving a more engaged and devoted user base.

Why so much hype?

Since 2020, Gartner has diligently monitored the progress of GenAI through its Hype Cycle™ for Artificial Intelligence. Notably, GenAI secured its position among our Top Strategic Technology Trends for 2022. Over this span, the technology has transitioned from the Innovation Trigger phase to the Peak of Inflated Expectations. Nevertheless, it wasn't until late 2022 that GenAI truly permeated mainstream awareness, marked by the debut of ChatGPT – a chatbot distinguished by its remarkably human-like conversational abilities.

How Thirdera's designers use AI

UX research

One of our designers, Andre Lindo, uses Chat GPT to help summarise findings into affinity maps for customer stakeholders. This saves significant time in the design process while providing valuable content. Personal or sensitive data is never input, and outputs are closely monitored for errors.

“When doing UX research, we take all our findings and create an affinity map. An affinity map is the result of compiling groups of ideas into similar themes and then categorising the results. With Chat GPT, I can copy and paste all the notes into the program and ask for a summary of all the notes. I also take it further and ask it to give me the top key insights from the cluster of notes. This crucial step saves me so much time and allows me to move on to the next step in the design process. It also gives me insights and content for my UX research deck.”

Affinity mapping using ChatGPT

AI-generated art

AI-generated art boosts experimentation by enabling unique visuals at rapid speed. Senior UX Designer Erica Keefe explains: "My first experiences felt like collaborating with a talented partner, challenging my thinking."

Visuals improve learning by up to 400% and are processed 60,000x faster than text. " Within ServiceNow, AI provides the opportunity to generate infographics that facilitate understanding of complex concepts and to provide memorable imagery to accompany important content,” says Erica.

Creating memorable and informative portal experiences is a specialty of the UX/UI team at Thirdera. The flexibility of the ServiceNow platform, combined with the specificity and repeatability of AI, allows us to develop creative imagery that facilitates user engagement with respect to company branding.

AI designs using Midjourney program

Our evolving best practices

• Start small and build your own understanding of what it is. Once you can better understand what is happening and how to use it then you can easily teach others. If you can show that you have trust in the technology and the outputs, others will adopt it.
• Transparency with your users is key. No one likes the feeling of being tricked or fooled. Explain how you got your results and how the machine works. Also, explain how you test the results to ensure that what is used elevates the user experience. It is important to understand that GenAI might not always be the answer however it can act as a great starting point to generate new ideas and outcomes that you might not have necessarily thought of
• Set up guardrails to track biases and work with your peers to review the outputs you create. Test extensively with internal stakeholders and super users. You always want to ensure you are capturing the user’s intention with the outputs created. This might mean you have to provide options and let users pick their favourite. It is also best practice to further polish the final outcome to ensure the natural, human element is still there.
• Keep humans front and center! There will always be new technologies available, but we need to always put humans first and their experience at the center of every solution. Achieving the right balance between automation driven by AI and experiences powered by human interaction plays a crucial role in upholding meaningful connections with users. Remind your users of your mission - to embrace technology to elevate their experience.

Reimagine your digital workplace

The ever-expanding horizons of user experience design are fascinating, with GenAI emerging as a dynamic force. At Thirdera, we've tapped into its prowess to elevate our UX practices, from UX research to AI-generated art. As we continue to push boundaries, our commitment remains unwavering: to infuse human-centered design with the innovative capabilities of AI, fostering connections that resonate deeply with our users. The future holds limitless possibilities, and as UX designers, we're excited to pave the way for experiences that seamlessly blend technology and humanity.