conversation

design

the discipline of creating interactions between humans and machines that feel natural, helpful, and—most importantly—human.

conversation

design

the discipline of creating interactions between humans and machines that feel natural, helpful, and—most importantly—human.

conversation

design

the discipline of creating interactions between humans and machines that feel natural, helpful, and—most importantly—human.

conversation

design

the discipline of creating interactions between humans and machines that feel natural, helpful, and—most importantly—human.

conversation

design

the discipline of creating interactions between humans and machines that feel natural, helpful, and—most importantly—human.

Dada

 Babies begin with a single sound. Through imitation, those sounds become sentences; sentences become stories. As we grow, we specialize: a developer learns the logic of Python; a doctor masters the complex dialect of biology; and for us designers, we adopt the visual syntax of the screen.

Dada

 Babies begin with a single sound. Through imitation, those sounds become sentences; sentences become stories. As we grow, we specialize: a developer learns the logic of Python; a doctor masters the complex dialect of biology; and for us designers, we adopt the visual syntax of the screen.
We spend our lives layering systems on top of our natural speech.
We spend our lives layering systems on top of our natural speech.
We spend our lives layering systems on top of our natural speech.
moving further away from the raw simplicity of our first words
moving further away from the raw simplicity of our first words
moving further away from the raw simplicity of our first words
But now, we’re at a turning point. The idea of teaching machines to talk the way we talk is inspiring us, as designers, to unlearn the rigid behavioral patterns we’ve built over decades of clicking

Buttons

 and dragging

Sliders

. We are in a race to build the next great interface, yet the "interface" itself is becoming

invisible

But now, we’re at a turning point. The idea of teaching machines to talk the way we talk is inspiring us, as designers, to unlearn the rigid behavioral patterns we’ve built over decades of clicking

Buttons

 and dragging

Sliders

. We are in a race to build the next great interface, yet the "interface" itself is becoming

invisible

Books, blogs, accounts that I find helpful for a beginner like me to learn more

Books, blogs, accounts that I find helpful for a beginner like me to learn more

fixed

context

For thousands of years, the "interface" was static; the human brain did 100% of the processing while the media stayed put.

Oral tradition

~50,000 BCE

The primal baseline. Before screens, knowledge lived in the rhythm of the spoken word, relying on memory and real-time social feedback to survive.

oral tradition

Written language

~3200 BCE

By moving from sound to symbols, we learned to decouple information from the presence of a speaker, allowing ideas to travel across time.

written language

Printing press

1440

This milestone enabled a single voice to reach thousands, standardizing language but making communication static and one-way.

printing press

rigid

logic

We introduced a Logic Gate between two people. In this wave, interaction was governed by a strict "if-this-then-that" decision tree; if you didn't follow the machine's specific path (like waiting for a beep or pressing a number), the conversation simply died.

Telephone

1876

The return of synchronous voice through a wire. It introduced strict mechanical protocols and "logic gates" to digital exchange.

telephone

Email

1876

The digital evolution of the letter. It introduced asynchronous threading, teaching us to organize conversations into subject lines and archived data.

email

intent

mapping

The "Chatbot Boom" moved us from following lines to guessing needs. Instead of a rigid script, designers built "intent buckets," teaching the machine to calculate the probability of what a user wanted from a fragment of text. We stopped drawing flowcharts and started training models to recognize patterns.

Email

1876

The digital evolution of the letter. It introduced asynchronous threading, teaching us to organize conversations into subject lines and archived data.

email

SMS & chat

1992

The digital evolution of the letter. It introduced asynchronous threading, teaching us to organize conversations into subject lines and archived data.

texting / sms

Virtual assistant

2011

The peak of the intent era. Siri, Alexa, Google Assistant, Cortana, and Bixby taught us to talk to our devices using massive libraries of pre-defined "Intents" to process our speech.

virtual assistants

agency

AI

In 2026, we’ve moved past "guessing" and into real-time reasoning and autonomy. We no longer write responses; we orchestrate AI Agents that use tools, maintain long-term memory, and take independent action to achieve a user's goal. We have finally designed a machine that can join the "Invisible Dance" of natural human talk.

Generative AI

2022

Now, the machine is a reasoning participant that synthesizes and responds in real-time. We’ve moved past static scripts to design the "invisible dance" between human context and machine intelligence.

generative

Written language

~3200 BCE

By moving from sound to symbols, we learned to decouple information from the presence of a speaker, allowing ideas to travel across time.

AI agents

fixed

context

For thousands of years, the "interface" was static; the human brain did 100% of the processing while the media stayed put.

Oral tradition

~50,000 BCE

The primal baseline. Before screens, knowledge lived in the rhythm of the spoken word, relying on memory and real-time social feedback to survive.

oral tradition

Written language

~3200 BCE

By moving from sound to symbols, we learned to decouple information from the presence of a speaker, allowing ideas to travel across time.

written language

Printing press

1440

This milestone enabled a single voice to reach thousands, standardizing language but making communication static and one-way.

printing press

rigid

logic

We introduced a Logic Gate between two people. In this wave, interaction was governed by a strict "if-this-then-that" decision tree; if you didn't follow the machine's specific path (like waiting for a beep or pressing a number), the conversation simply died.

Telephone

1876

The return of synchronous voice through a wire. It introduced strict mechanical protocols and "logic gates" to digital exchange.

telephone

Email

1876

The digital evolution of the letter. It introduced asynchronous threading, teaching us to organize conversations into subject lines and archived data.

email

intent

mapping

The "Chatbot Boom" moved us from following lines to guessing needs. Instead of a rigid script, designers built "intent buckets," teaching the machine to calculate the probability of what a user wanted from a fragment of text. We stopped drawing flowcharts and started training models to recognize patterns.

Email

1876

The digital evolution of the letter. It introduced asynchronous threading, teaching us to organize conversations into subject lines and archived data.

email

SMS & chat

1992

The digital evolution of the letter. It introduced asynchronous threading, teaching us to organize conversations into subject lines and archived data.

texting / sms

Virtual assistant

2011

The peak of the intent era. Siri, Alexa, Google Assistant, Cortana, and Bixby taught us to talk to our devices using massive libraries of pre-defined "Intents" to process our speech.

virtual assistants

agency

AI

In 2026, we’ve moved past "guessing" and into real-time reasoning and autonomy. We no longer write responses; we orchestrate AI Agents that use tools, maintain long-term memory, and take independent action to achieve a user's goal. We have finally designed a machine that can join the "Invisible Dance" of natural human talk.

Generative AI

2022

Now, the machine is a reasoning participant that synthesizes and responds in real-time. We’ve moved past static scripts to design the "invisible dance" between human context and machine intelligence.

generative

Written language

~3200 BCE

By moving from sound to symbols, we learned to decouple information from the presence of a speaker, allowing ideas to travel across time.

AI agents

fixed

context

For thousands of years, the "interface" was static; the human brain did 100% of the processing while the media stayed put.

Oral tradition

~50,000 BCE

The primal baseline. Before screens, knowledge lived in the rhythm of the spoken word, relying on memory and real-time social feedback to survive.

oral tradition

Written language

~3200 BCE

By moving from sound to symbols, we learned to decouple information from the presence of a speaker, allowing ideas to travel across time.

written language

Printing press

1440

This milestone enabled a single voice to reach thousands, standardizing language but making communication static and one-way.

printing press

rigid

logic

We introduced a Logic Gate between two people. In this wave, interaction was governed by a strict "if-this-then-that" decision tree; if you didn't follow the machine's specific path (like waiting for a beep or pressing a number), the conversation simply died.

Telephone

1876

The return of synchronous voice through a wire. It introduced strict mechanical protocols and "logic gates" to digital exchange.

telephone

Email

1876

The digital evolution of the letter. It introduced asynchronous threading, teaching us to organize conversations into subject lines and archived data.

email

intent

mapping

The "Chatbot Boom" moved us from following lines to guessing needs. Instead of a rigid script, designers built "intent buckets," teaching the machine to calculate the probability of what a user wanted from a fragment of text. We stopped drawing flowcharts and started training models to recognize patterns.

Email

1876

The digital evolution of the letter. It introduced asynchronous threading, teaching us to organize conversations into subject lines and archived data.

email

SMS & chat

1992

The digital evolution of the letter. It introduced asynchronous threading, teaching us to organize conversations into subject lines and archived data.

texting / sms

Virtual assistant

2011

The peak of the intent era. Siri, Alexa, Google Assistant, Cortana, and Bixby taught us to talk to our devices using massive libraries of pre-defined "Intents" to process our speech.

virtual assistants

agency

AI

In 2026, we’ve moved past "guessing" and into real-time reasoning and autonomy. We no longer write responses; we orchestrate AI Agents that use tools, maintain long-term memory, and take independent action to achieve a user's goal. We have finally designed a machine that can join the "Invisible Dance" of natural human talk.

Generative AI

2022

Now, the machine is a reasoning participant that synthesizes and responds in real-time. We’ve moved past static scripts to design the "invisible dance" between human context and machine intelligence.

generative

Written language

~3200 BCE

By moving from sound to symbols, we learned to decouple information from the presence of a speaker, allowing ideas to travel across time.

AI agents

The new era is about teaching machines to speak 'human.

The new era is about teaching machines to speak 'human.

The new era is about teaching machines to speak 'human.

The new era is about teaching machines to speak 'human.

The new era is about teaching machines to speak 'human.

As we move into this third wave, we have to recognize that conversation isn't just "input and output." It is a complex, collaborative dance governed by unwritten rules.
As we move into this third wave, we have to recognize that conversation isn't just "input and output." It is a complex, collaborative dance governed by unwritten rules.
When two humans talk, they are constantly adjusting their rhythm, anticipating needs, and repairing misunderstandings in real-time. For a designer, this means our "canvas" isn't a static screen, but the fluid space between two minds.
When two humans talk, they are constantly adjusting their rhythm, anticipating needs, and repairing misunderstandings in real-time. For a designer, this means our "canvas" isn't a static screen, but the fluid space between two minds.

emerging

trends

emerging

trends

emerging

trends

Interface That Augment or Replace

We are moving from Deterministic Design (drawing every screen) to Probabilistic Design (setting boundaries). We no longer control the exact path; we design the guardrails that keep the AI on track.

Interface That Augment or Replace

Humans are hardwired to treat anything that "talks" like a social entity. As an AI Product Designer, you aren't just designing a tool; you are designing a social relationship and managing human trust.

Interface That Augment or Replace

We are in the era of Agentic AI. This means designing systems that don't just answer questions but autonomously use tools—like booking a flight or managing a budget—to complete multi-step tasks.

Interface That Augment or Replace

Conversation is no longer just text. It’s now about how an AI "sees" via camera or "hears" emotional tone. Designers must now balance Latency (response time) and Barge-in (user interruptions) to make interactions feel human.

We are no longer just "Conversation Designers" writing chat bubbles; we have evolved into AI Product Designers. Our job now is to orchestrate Agentic AI—systems that don't just talk, but reason through a problem and take action on a user's behalf.
We are no longer just "Conversation Designers" writing chat bubbles; we have evolved into AI Product Designers. Our job now is to orchestrate Agentic AI—systems that don't just talk, but reason through a problem and take action on a user's behalf.

resources

and events

resources

and events

resources

and events

1

Get Started with Computer Use

Conversations with Things: UX Design for Chat and Voice

Get Started with Computer Use

books

1

Get Started with Computer Use

Conversations with Things: UX Design for Chat and Voice

Get Started with Computer Use

books

1

Get Started with Computer Use

Conversations with Things: UX Design for Chat and Voice

Get Started with Computer Use

books

1

Get Started with Computer Use

Conversations with Things: UX Design for Chat and Voice

Get Started with Computer Use

books

1

Get Started with Computer Use

Conversations with Things: UX Design for Chat and Voice

Get Started with Computer Use

books

1

events and conferences

1

events and conferences

1

events and conferences

1

events and conferences

1

events and conferences