How to Use AI to Improve your UX

SOURCE: Digital Marketing Institute

Artificial intelligence (AI) is having an impact on almost all areas of our lives and is changing the user experience.

UX is not just a once-off action: it’s a process of putting the customer at the center of your strategy, and making business decisions based on customer data.

Just think about the number of devices people use to go and search online. They can move from one to another within seconds. It’s evident in the rise in voice search, the widespread adoption of chatbots and the growth in visual recognition. Plus there’s the in-store experience that can be augmented by using technology to engage and drive people to purchase.   

AI makes it much easier to design products that offer exceptional user experience. In this article, we review 6 ways that  AI can benefit UX and product designers.

1. Natural Language Processing (NLP) for chatbots

We're living in a moment in which interaction with computers rapidly changes and becomes more human-friendly. All because of advancements in NLP. 

NLP makes it possible to interact with machines the same way we interact with other people—in the form of a dialog, using plain words. This helps reduce a learning curve—the effort users need to invest in interacting with a product. 

The better computers understand the natural language, the more human-friendly interactions become because people don't need to remember commands or interaction patterns. 

Industry leaders already use the power of AI-powered chatbots in areas like customer support to improve customer experience and cut costs. 

One good example is Klarna, a fintech company specializing in online financial services. It effectively cut its workforce by nearly half with AI: the Klarna AI assistant powered by OpenAI handled two-thirds of customer service chats in its first month. It is more accurate in errand resolution, which has  led to a 25% drop in repeat inquiries.

2. AI image recognition

Image recognition is a technology powered by AI that enables systems to identify and classify objects, people, text, or scenes within images or videos. 

Previously, this technology was used purely in scientific contexts (for example, Google used this technology to classify objects on images on the website). Nowadays, AI image recognition is used in many areas, and it is especially effective in eCommerce. 

Sephora, a  personal care and beauty retailer, is a good example of using AI to drive online and brick-and-mortar conversion rates. 

The company offers Virtual Artist, a technology that allows customers to try thousands of Sephora products from the mobile app. Sephora Color Match, available in  stores, assists customers in shade matching and provides product recommendations across its range of products. 

Both technologies take on a role that once  belonged to (human) store assistants, and it's clear that this technology benefits users as Sephora increased online make-up sales by 35% with a virtual try-on experience.

3. AI for emotional analysis in UX

AI brings the opportunity to build a new, more human-centered interaction with technology. Imagine a digital interface that adapts not only to your behavior but also to your emotions. 

One good example is facial expression analysis. The camera in your mobile phone or laptop can analyze your facial expression in real-time and offer content that works best for you. 

Instead of one-fits-all products, we will get products tailored to our specific needs at the moment. Experience adapts to the user and their needs, rather than the user adapts to UI. 

This technology can be applied in various contexts, from general purposes to educational contexts. Streaming services use this technology to great effect to understand users’ likes, as in the case of Spotify. AI technology can be very effective for virtual classrooms: in Hong Kong several schools are using a new tool that can 'look' at students' faces while they’re studying at home to gauge how they respond to classwork (whether they feel happy by learning a new subject or not). This helps make the virtual classroom as good as the real thing.

But it's possible to analyze emotions without looking at a human face—by analyzing voice alone. Vocal cues, such as tone, pitch, speed, volume, and speech patterns, can identify the speaker's emotional state. 

By combining what is said with how it is said, the system gains better accuracy in emotion detection. Considering that about 20% of people worldwide use voice search (Statista), this technology becomes critical as it directly impacts user satisfaction. 

By incorporating contextual information, such as prior interactions, it's possible to enhance emotion recognition. For instance, if a user has previously shown frustration in a customer service call, the system might weigh future vocal cues differently.

4. AI for personalization in UX

Personalization is the process of tailoring product experiences to meet the preferences, needs, and behaviors of individual users. Personalization was a big thing even before the AI revolution because it enhances user satisfaction, increases engagement, and builds brand loyalty. 

However, the rise of AI moves personalization to the next level. Nowadays, tech giants use personalization in all sorts of contexts, from product recommendations for online shopping (Amazon) to to-do reminders, navigation directions, or weather updates (Apple Siri). Streaming giant Netflix analyzes user preferences (e.g., watch history and search patterns) to suggest shows that align with individual interests. It might show its entire selection of popular comedies to users who prefer lighter genres and a more intense visual for those who frequently watch thrillers.

If you're looking for ways to introduce personalization to your products, consider trying CleverTap or Dynamic Yield. Both these platforms allow for the creation of personalized customer experiences based on demographics, behavioral patterns, and real-time actions, fostering deeper user engagement. Dynamic Yield employs advanced AI models, such as Shopping Muse, to predict customer behavior and deliver relevant recommendations across the web.

5. AI-driven accessibility features

Good product design is accessible design. Accessibility design makes it possible for users with all abilities to interact with your product. Its accessible design requires a lot of investment from the product team. However, AI can help with many tasks, such as content localization. For instance, YouTube utilizes AI to generate automatic captions for videos and provide subtitles in multiple languages to enable content to reach a global audience.

In web design, AI can help with the following routine tasks: 

• Generating alt tags with descriptions for images. Not only does this make the website more accessible for users who use screenreaders, but it will also make the site more SEO-friendly as search engineers analyze the image description in alt tags.

• Providing automatic text-to-voice translation for users who prefer the audio version of the content 

• Dynamic font style and text size adjustments based on user preferences

• Automatic video chaptering. AI can automatically identify key sections within a video and offer shortcuts to the sections. This allows viewers to navigate content more efficiently. 

AI can be used for image recognition. Computer vision technology, integrated into apps like Be My Eyes and TapTapSee, assists visually impaired users by identifying objects, reading text from images, and describing scenes.

6. AI-powered behavioral analytics for UX

Behavioral analysis is an integral part of product design. The better products align with the user behavior and expectations, the better the experience users will have in interacting with them. Previously, the product team had to collect a massive amount of data, categorize it, and extract valuable insights from it. But AI tools have streamlined this process. Tools like FullStory and Hotjar leverage machine learning to analyze user behavior on websites and mobile apps and offer practical recommendations for optimizing user experience. 

FullStory provides in-depth session replay capabilities. Product teams can use this tool to observe user interactions in real time and identify pain points through detailed heatmaps and conversion funnels. It's possible to use this information to optimize web layouts to maximize the efficiency of operations or align UI text to resonate with individual users.

Hotjar combines heatmaps, session recordings, and user feedback tools to reveal how visitors engage with content. AI analyzes user clicks, scrolls, and mouse movements to create heatmaps that highlight high-engagement areas. This helps teams understand user behavior and preferences and it's particularly helpful when the team wants to optimize individual design decisions, such as labels for call-to-action buttons.

4 ways to use AI to enhance UX

1. Use AI to extract insights from raw data

If you've been running a business for a while, there is a high chance that you collected a lot of data about your customers. All you need to do is to analyze this data and extract valuable insights from it. Use AI to analyze existing user data, like actions they take in your product (behavioral patterns) or reviews they leave online (customer feedback), to identify pain points in the current user journey and opportunities for improvement. 

AI-driven analytics tools like FullStory that use techniques and algorithms to automate data analysis can be very helpful for this task. 

2. Automate repetitive tasks

AI is very effective for streamlining routine operations in the user journey. One area of focus is customer support service. According to Zendesk, about 70% of customers report making purchase decisions based on the quality of their customer service experience. By hiring an AI-powered chatbot, it is possible to optimize the customer support service—being able to process customer requests faster and with greater quality, frees up users' time. Zendesk and Intercom offer ready-to-use solutions for AI customer support agents. 

3. Personalize experiences

Implement AI to create tailored experiences, such as personalized recommendations, content, or interface elements based on user preferences and behavior. Insider is a great platform to try if you're looking to build targeted campaigns that predict customer behaviors.

4. Leverage AI for accessibility

AI can help you improve the accessibility of your product. Platforms like Userway can streamline accessibility audits by offering AI-powered tools that do the heavy lifting—the tools will scan your design to find and fix accessibility issues. So, you don't have to be a design or accessibility expert to improve the quality of your design. 

Conclusion

Good user experience is all about simplifying the users’ journey and helping them complete tasks with minimal effort. 

From chatbots that offer instant support to predictive analytics that anticipate user needs, AI actively transforms how users interact with products or services today. By embracing the power of AI, you improve UX and foster stronger, lasting relationships with your users.

SOURCE: Digital Marketing Institute