Log in or create a free Rosenverse account to watch this video.
Log in Create free account100s of community videos are available to free members. Conference talks are generally available to Gold members.
Summary
Most AI projects fail. Somewhere between 50-90% of them, which is double the rate of more traditional tech projects. This Rosenverse Session will draw on years of Carnegie Mellon HCII research to dive into the five traps that AI projects can fall into, and then talk about what designers and project managers can do to avoid those traps. Including one startling finding: user-centered design alone isn’t enough.
Key Insights
-
•
Most AI projects fail due to choosing the wrong problems rather than poor execution.
-
•
The AI innovation gap occurs because data scientists focus on technically hard but low-value problems.
-
•
User-centered design alone often identifies problems unsuitable for AI solutions.
-
•
AI works best for low-risk, moderate accuracy (~90%), narrow tasks like spam filtering or smart text suggestions.
-
•
Executives push AI fast to avoid falling behind, risking deployments without clear user or business value.
-
•
Consequences scanning is a vital method to detect and mitigate ethical risks before AI product launch.
-
•
Matchmaking AI capabilities with real user needs and organizational goals increases project success.
-
•
Agents add new AI capabilities to sense, think, and act, requiring adapted design processes.
-
•
AI lacks context, aesthetic taste, and common sense—designers must provide these to create effective AI products.
-
•
There is currently little corporate or legal accountability for AI ethics; responsibility largely falls to product teams.
Notable Quotes
"Welcome to the AI party, we've got 10 years of research to share."
"Executives said it's better to go fast and fail than to go slow and succeed."
"AI can be magical, but it's also just not that smart."
"Don Norman was named the top accomplished woman in UX by AI, even though Don is a man."
"Companies hunt for AI innovation in technically challenging areas instead of simpler, more valuable places."
"Most AI fails because projects require near perfect accuracy, which AI can't reliably deliver."
"The traditional user-centered design process doesn't work well for AI problems."
"Matchmaking connects AI capabilities to user needs so you find the low hanging fruit projects."
"AI struggles with context, taste, and common sense, and designers bring that to the table."
"Consequences scanning helps detect unintended harms and risks before launching AI features."
Or choose a question:
More Videos
"Even when we bring the data together, we’re still not necessarily synthesizing very well."
Brad Peters Anne MamaghaniShort Take #1: UX/Product Lessons from Your Industry Peers
December 6, 2022
"Scaling design in an enterprise is like having more feet in the car — it gets you there faster."
Lona MooreScaling Design Beyond Designers
June 11, 2021
"AI delivers signals, not hard truths. They’re dream machines designed to imagine what could happen next."
Josh Clark Veronika KindredSentient Design, AI, and the Radically Adaptive Experience (1st of 3 seminars)
January 15, 2025
"It’s not a theme unless you can put your hand over every sticky note and the label explains the story."
Erin May Roberta Dombrowski Laura Oxenfeld Brooke HintonDistributed, Democratized, Decentralized: Finding a Research Model to Support Your Org
March 10, 2022
"AI moderation did not make the research easier. It made it possible under real world constraints."
Tara TresselInvestigating qualitative depth of AI-moderated interviews
March 10, 2026
"Updating and adopting design system components is company time, so a slower release schedule helps teams keep up."
Charles Lee Jennie YipBuilding a New Home for the Atlassian Design System
October 22, 2020
"The future of education lies in collaboration and adaptation."
Kristin SkinnerFive Years of DesignOps
September 29, 2021
"Put the most important message right up front no matter what the format."
Megan BlockerGetting to the “So What?”: How Management Consulting Practices Can Transform Your Approach to Research
March 26, 2024
"Designers hope to support the public in exercising agency and redistribute hegemonic power in public services."
Shanti Mathew Natalie Sims Natalia RadywylCivic Design at Scale: Introducing the Public Policy Layer Cake
December 9, 2021
