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by tobr·3mo ago·view on hn ↗
> This isn’t necessary fancy, just let me set some calendar events without knowing the magic words or tell it to open Overcast and play the new Gastropod episode. Better yet, for power users, let me set up reusable shortcuts using natural language.

Isn’t this the proverbial ”faster horse”? Ie let me do exactly what I can do now, in a very slightly different, possibly very slightly more convenient way?

5 comments
If the user asks for a faster horse and you sell them a car, you win.

If the user asks for a faster horse and you sell them a trebuchet, you lose, no matter how fast the trebuchet would technically get them to their destination.

Also, some people just want a faster horse
Yes, don't forget if the user asks for a faster horse and you sell them a faster horse you still win.

And you may be able to sell them what they are already asking for a lot faster than what they are not.

Now if you are trying to sell them something that they would rather not even have at all, that's another story too.

Others really want the trebuchet…
That’s fine if the vendor anctually understands the users needs better than they do, otherwise it’s just pure chance if they happen to align.
A car is still a faster horse in the sense that you decide where to go with it. It doesn’t outsource decisions to somewhere else.

(Arguably the car affords you better control than an unruly horse. Self-driving cars are moving us closer to the horse again. ;))

>Self-driving cars are moving us closer to the horse again.

Maybe there is some parallel to the way that AI is moving "cutting edge" programming closer to the mainframe/dumb-terminal paradigm.

A good horse is quite the autopilot

I've seen a horse get a black out drunk rider "safely" to a hammock and then continue to it's stable to rest

Nothing wrong with a faster horse when AI isn't reliable enough yet to produce the car. Don't leave me with my aging horse while you cross your fingers that something better might come along someday.
I don't think we're at an aging horse moment, but a hurt one. One that can run fast sometimes but limps to the finish other times
No, it's asking for my two-legged horse to have four legs
The whole point of AI is that if something different happens, it's not you doing it.
Exactly as a UX person who watched the movie H.E.R. A few times i feel something like is the next UX internet evolution… talking and texting to AI where all visuals need to be seen appear your iPhones lock screen. Siri would in the background communicate with AI agents of businesses to govt organizations to organizations to your friends and family to get things done for you. Lessen the need to unlock your phone and Apples creating AI AirPods just use the iPhones lock screen to create/show the appropriate visuals and text.

As UX / UI professional of 17 years I think design is a dying field the above would kill digital UI design quicker. Yet the UX would be less steps / friction to complete tasks which is the harbinger of UX design…less is more.

On a side note I’m just in medical school studying a mid level Concentration. I don’t foresee a LONG term future in digital design and development much anymore.

Now I’m picturing a dystopia movie. No one knows how to plan any events anymore, some event appears in their calendar and they show up and find some people there matched to their profile. People get silenced from certain events and can’t get back in. Like a personalized music playlist but it’s your entire life. People forget how to organize and create original ideas, and any prospect of revolution becomes as likely as expecting a farmers cattle to rise up.
Could be where things go…UX is all about less is more ..less steps. Time will tell.
That’s the simplistic view of UX thats commonly sold.

Less steps isn’t always better. Friction has its place.

A basic example is an “Are you sure?” confirmation before a destructive action.

I wish there wasn’t so much focus on “less clicks.” It’s often to the company’s benefit at the detriment of the user

That’s a common UX pattern that would need to be carried over ( could just give a thumbs up & ur AI understands it as you accept lol) into the new UX internet paradigm I mentioned above ..which I don’t think is that far fetched. What I propose is really just chatGPT on ur phones lock screen one that connects to Ai agents I mentioned (not present day thing but surely will be).
Not only that, but to many users the whole point of a computer is that it can do the same exact thing every time.