Wix Users - Meet AI;
AI - Meet Wix Users
The AI revolution of the last couple years has brought new challenges and the opportunity to learn new skills. In writing the AI Site Builder, I got to help mediate the AI experience for our users as well as teach the language models about our users and how to talk to them.
The Challenge
When AI exploded onto the scene in a big way, we built a tool called the AI Site Builder. This tool let users generate site designs with the help of AI, play around with different themes and different layouts, and get personalized text and images. AI was just getting started so users weren't necessarily familiar with how to best make use of it. Additionally, the tool imposed many technical limitations that needed to be worked with (in fact, in today's terms, the AI would be considered very basic).
The Solution
I used a mix of terms that are domain specific when needed and didn't go into the technical details when it wasn't helpful. For example, when we started writing AI features at Wix, we prefered the verb create over generate, which at the beginning of the AI era sounded a little overly robotic, and foreign to the Wix voice. By the time this feature launched, generate was well on its way to becoming an AI convention.
On the other hand, I decided not to use the word prompt. instead, I explained to the user what they would get from entering the information the AI needed.
The Impact
Using AI terminology where appropriate situates the user in the world of AI, provides a consistent experience and aligns expectations across tools and platforms. However, for users who were not necessarily familiar with the world of AI, this is sometimes more confusing than helpful. Cutting unnecessary jargon makes the experience smoother.