HAX Design Library

Guideline 10

Scope services when in doubt

Engage in disambiguation or gracefully degrade the AI system’s services when uncertain about a user’s goals.

Guideline 10 > Pattern 10A

Pattern 10A: Disambiguate before acting

Guideline 10 > Pattern 10A > Example

Copilot in Word | 10A: Disambiguate before acting

Guideline 10 > Pattern 10A > Example

iPhone | 10A: Disambiguate before acting

Guideline 10 > Pattern 10B

Pattern 10B: Avoid cold starts by eliciting user preferences

Guideline 10 > Pattern 10C

Pattern 10C: Fall back to other strategies

Guideline 10 > Pattern 10C > Example

Box Skills | 10C: Fall back to other strategies

Guideline 10 > Example

Copilot in PowerPoint | G10: Scope services when in doubt

Guideline 16

Convey the consequences of user actions

Immediately update or convey how user actions will impact future behaviors of the AI system.

Guideline 16 > Pattern 16A

Pattern 16A: Feedforward: Convey the consequences of user actions before the user takes action

Guideline 16 > Pattern 16A > Example

Outlook | 16A: Feedforward: Convey the consequences of user actions before the user takes action

Guideline 16 > Pattern 16B

Pattern 16B: Feedback: Convey the consequences of user actions after the user takes action

Guideline 16 > Pattern 16B > Example

Gmail | 16B: Feedback: Convey the consequences of user actions after the user takes action

Guideline 16 > Pattern 16C

Pattern 16C: Remind of consequences of a past action and ask for reconfirmation

Guideline 16 > Pattern 16D

Pattern 16D: Convey the consequences of user action in help and documentation

Guideline 16 > Pattern 16D > Example

Interactive collection of the 18 Guidelines for Human-AI Interaction, with design patterns for applying them and examples.