top of page

The evolution of UX from prompt templates to agentic systems

March 26, 2025



How did we get from Line commands to AI agents?

ย 

How interface design shifted agency from users to systems through four key phases:


๐Ÿญ. ๐— ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐˜‚๐—ฎ๐—น ๐—จ๐—ซ (๐Ÿญ๐Ÿต๐Ÿณ๐Ÿฌ๐˜€-๐Ÿญ๐Ÿต๐Ÿด๐Ÿฌ๐˜€)

โ€ข User agency: High (users control every action)

โ€ข Key innovation: Text-based interaction ("Mother of All Demos" by Douglas Engelbart)

โ€ข Example: UNIX terminals (1970s) required memorizing commands like "rm -rf" for file deletion and "grep" for pattern matching


๐Ÿฎ. ๐—š๐˜‚๐—ถ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐—จ๐—ซ (๐Ÿญ๐Ÿต๐Ÿด๐Ÿฌ๐˜€-๐—ฃ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐˜€๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜)

โ€ข User agency: Moderate (systems suggest paths)

โ€ข Key innovation: GUI, Visual metaphors (Xerox Parc, Mark Weiser)

โ€ข Example 1: Macintosh Finder (1984) introduced drag-and-drop file management and trash can deletion .

โ€ข Example 2: ATM interfaces (1980s) with step-by-step withdrawal/deposit workflows



๐Ÿฏ. ๐—”๐˜€๐˜€๐—ถ๐˜€๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐—จ๐—ซ (๐Ÿฎ๐Ÿฌ๐Ÿญ๐Ÿฌ๐˜€ - ๐—ฃ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐˜€๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜)

- User agency: Shared (systems handle specific tasks)

- Key innovation: Predictive help

- Example 1: Google Autocomplete (2008) anticipates search queries after 2-3 keystrokes

- Example 2: Siri (2011) enabled natural language requests for calendar management


๐Ÿฐ. ๐—”๐—ด๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜๐—ถ๐—ฐ ๐—จ๐—ซ (๐Ÿฎ๐Ÿฌ๐Ÿฎ๐Ÿฏ-๐—ฃ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐˜€๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜)

As @Kwame Nyanning describes it "Agentic UXย is the overall experience a person has with an autonomous agent or agent-like product, system, or service. Agentic interfaces are composed in real-time by the agent within a generative canvas"



- User agency: Delegated (systems achieve goals independently)

- Key innovation: Autonomous problem-solving

- Example 1: Devin AI (2024) software engineer that writes/tested code through iterative debugging

- Example 2: ChatGPT Plugins (2023) coordinate flight bookings by comparing prices/availability

Why this matters

We're entering an era where UX designers become "๐—ด๐—ผ๐—ฎ๐—น ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฐ๐—ต๐—ถ๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฐ๐˜๐˜€" rather than interface sculptors. The next frontier? Designing responsible agent ecosystems that balance automation with user oversight.



Key Patterns inherited from previous trends

๐—จ๐˜€๐—ฒ๐—ฟ-๐—–๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐——๐—ฒ๐˜€๐—ถ๐—ด๐—ป: Agentic UX inherits the focus on user needs from Guided UX, ensuring that agents are designed to serve user goals effectively.


๐—”๐˜‚๐˜๐—ผ๐—บ๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐—ฆ๐—ต๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐—”๐—ด๐—ฒ๐—ป๐—ฐ๐˜†: The automation and assistance patterns from Assisted UX are amplified in Agentic UX, where agents take on more autonomous roles.


๐—”๐—ฑ๐—ฎ๐—ฝ๐˜๐—ฎ๐—ฏ๐—ถ๐—น๐—ถ๐˜๐˜† ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐—ฃ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐˜€๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ฎ๐—น๐—ถ๐˜‡๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป: The adaptability seen in Assisted UX is further enhanced in Agentic UX, with agents capable of multi-modal interactions and personalized narratives.


๐—”๐—ด๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜๐—ถ๐—ฐ ๐—จ๐—ซ is NOT just a new frontier! It is a culmination of lessons learned from its predecessors.

bottom of page