Jakob Nielsen on UX

Jakob Nielsen's Substack focuses on user experience (UX) and usability, particularly at the intersection with artificial intelligence (AI). It covers Nielsen's career insights, developments in UX heuristics, AI's impact on UX design, the evolution of user interfaces, and discusses both the opportunities and challenges presented by AI in enhancing user experience.

User Experience (UX) Usability Heuristics Artificial Intelligence in UX Career in UX Interface Design Accessibility User Research AI Tools for UX Ethical Design Cognitive Development and Technology

The hottest Substack posts of Jakob Nielsen on UX

And their main takeaways

SEO & UX: Search Engine Optimization Best Practices

19 implied HN points • 05 Mar 25
🕹 Technology SEO UX Web Development Digital marketing Content Strategy
  1. SEO is changing from a focus on tricks to prioritizing what users actually want. It’s about giving people good experiences rather than trying to fool search engines.
  2. Quality content is key for SEO now. Instead of pumping out lots of low-quality articles, businesses should create useful, in-depth content that truly answers user questions.
  3. Building trust and authority online is crucial. Websites need to show expertise and be credible, as Google favors content from trusted sources.

Hello AI Agents: Goodbye UI Design, RIP Accessibility

180 implied HN points • 21 Feb 25
🕹 Technology AI agents User Experience Web Design Automation Accessibility
  1. AI agents will change how we interact with the internet by doing tasks for us, making traditional user interfaces less important. Instead of users browsing websites, agents will handle everything, like shopping or booking trips.
  2. Accessibility might become less relevant as AI agents can adapt content for the individual needs of users with disabilities. These agents will tailor their actions and communication according to what each user prefers or requires.
  3. As AI agents become more capable, the way content is designed will shift. Websites may need to focus more on how agents can access and analyze information rather than on making things visually appealing for human users.

From PageRank to DeepRank: Attracting AI-Driven Traffic to Digital Properties

34 implied HN points • 28 Feb 25
🕹 Technology AI SEO Digital marketing Content Strategy Web Development
  1. AI is becoming more important than traditional search engines for finding information. If your content is not part of AI training data, people may not discover you.
  2. Using email marketing and newsletters is essential for maintaining connections with loyal customers. This helps in creating a solid fan base even if they don't find you through search engines.
  3. To be noticed by AI, your content should be clear, straightforward, and directly answer common questions. This way, the AI can easily reference and cite your work.

UX Roundup: Explainer Videos | AI Overload | AI Music | Over-Recuiting | Home Robots | GPT 4.5

7 implied HN points • 03 Mar 25
🕹 Technology AI UX Design Robotics SEO Music
  1. AI technology is rapidly advancing, making it hard for anyone to keep up with all the new tools and updates. It's important to focus on the bigger trends rather than getting lost in minor details.
  2. There is a significant improvement in AI-generated music, showing that the quality of compositions and performances has greatly enhanced over a short period. This makes it easier for creators to make engaging music.
  3. When conducting user research, it's wise to recruit more participants than needed to account for no-shows and other issues. This ensures that you still gather valuable insights even if not everyone shows up.

Future is Lean, Mean, and Scary for UX Agencies

50 implied HN points • 19 Feb 25
🕹 Technology UX Design AI Impact Productivity Innovation
  1. UX agencies are facing tough times because more companies are building their own in-house UX teams. This means less need for outside consultants.
  2. AI is changing the UX game by making work more efficient. With AI tools, one UX professional can do the work of three, leading to smaller, more effective teams.
  3. The future of UX will split into two paths: high-end firms offering specialized strategic consulting and low-end providers using AI to deliver basic design services. Mid-sized agencies may struggle unless they adapt.
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Claude Sonnet 3.7 Compared with Previous AI Models

13 implied HN points • 25 Feb 25
🕹 Technology AI User Experience Web Design Usability Software Development
  1. The new AI model, Claude Sonnet 3.7, performs better than previous versions and outperforms other models, like Grok 3, in explaining key concepts like Jakob's Law.
  2. Jakob's Law highlights that users form their expectations based on their experiences with other websites. This means that following common design patterns is crucial for creating a user-friendly experience.
  3. Interactive demos created by AI can help users see how standard and non-standard designs affect usability, making it easier to understand the importance of sticking to familiar web conventions.

UX Roundup: Film Festival | AI Therapy | AI Radiology | AI Creative Writing | Grok 3

13 implied HN points • 24 Feb 25
🕹 Technology AI Health tech Creative Writing Film Usability
  1. AI technology has made significant strides in creative fields, like filmmaking, showcasing impressive work at events such as the AI Film Festival. Artists are using AI to create stunning visuals and stories, pushing the boundaries of what is possible.
  2. Research indicates that AI can perform on par with human therapists in couples therapy. Although AI therapy is cheaper and more accessible, many people still prefer human interaction due to trust and emotional connection.
  3. AI has demonstrated higher accuracy than human radiologists in medical diagnoses, particularly in breast cancer detection. This advancement has the potential to reduce workloads for doctors and improve early detection rates, highlighting AI's growing role in healthcare.

Deep Research: First Impressions

40 implied HN points • 08 Feb 25
🕹 Technology AI User Experience Research Design Productivity
  1. AI tools like OpenAI's Deep Research can make research tasks much faster and easier. This lets users get valuable insights quickly, which is great for decision making.
  2. Having AI ask follow-up questions before starting research helps users clarify their needs. This means the final output is more likely to match what they were actually looking for.
  3. Investing in AI tools for design teams can save money and improve work efficiency. It's cheaper than hiring extra help and helps teams stay updated with the best technology.

AI Hallucinations on the Decline

21 implied HN points • 13 Feb 25
🕹 Technology AI Usability UX Design Data Analysis
  1. AI models are getting better at reducing false information, called hallucinations. This means they are less likely to make things up over time.
  2. Bigger AI models generally make fewer mistakes. As AI technology improves, we can expect even fewer errors from future models.
  3. While waiting for better AI, improving user experience can help users spot and double-check misleading information, making it easier to trust AI outputs.

AI Stigma: Why Some Users Resist AI’s Help

36 implied HN points • 05 Feb 25
🕹 Technology AI User Experience Human factors Collaboration Ethics
  1. Many people are still skeptical about using AI, even when it often performs better than humans. They might rate AI-generated work poorly because they don't trust it.
  2. Collaboration between humans and AI can succeed when they complement each other's strengths. For example, AI can handle data quickly while humans provide deeper understanding.
  3. User attitudes toward AI are influenced by emotions and past experiences. If people have anxiety or distrust toward AI, they might avoid using it or not use it effectively.

UX Roundup: OpenAI Product Roadmap | Parallel and Iterative AI Use | Virtual Boyfriends | Jakob in SF | Dropdown Menus | Early GUI | AI Urgency | Perplexity Deep Research

11 implied HN points • 17 Feb 25
🕹 Technology AI UX Design Product Development User Research Web Development
  1. Grok 3 is about to launch and promises to be a smarter AI. It’s important to compare it with future models like GPT-5 to see how much better they become.
  2. OpenAI has simplified their product naming, making it easier to understand what each version offers. GPT-5 will also come with better features for users who pay for a subscription.
  3. The way we use AI in creative work can really boost quality. Using multiple models and refining ideas helps combine the best outcomes, making it a collaborative tool not just a replacement.

AI Scaling Laws 4 & 5: More Engineers and Designers

17 implied HN points • 07 Feb 25
🕹 Technology AI Engineering Design Usability Productivity
  1. AI will get smarter and better with more talented engineers and designers working on it. The more skilled people we have, the more breakthroughs we'll see in AI technology.
  2. Improving how people interact with AI is crucial. Making AI easier to use will greatly increase its value, so more effort should go into user experience and design.
  3. As AI technology advances, we will likely see more AI systems improving themselves, leading to rapid growth in AI capabilities and applications over the coming decades.

DeepSeek: Does a Small AI Model Invalidate Big Models?

27 implied HN points • 30 Jan 25
🕹 Technology AI Models Machine Learning Computing Data Analysis Investments
  1. DeepSeek's AI model is cheaper and uses a lot less computing power than other big models, but it still performs well. This shows smaller models can be very competitive.
  2. Investments in AI are expected to keep growing, even with cheaper models available. Companies will still spend billions to advance AI technology and achieve superintelligence.
  3. As AI gets cheaper, more people will use it and businesses will likely spend more on AI services. The demand for AI will increase as it becomes more accessible.

UX Roundup: Outpacing Human Aging | Animating Paintings | Domain-Specific UX | Bad AI Video | Top Avatars Vary by Platform | Search Research | o3-mini

15 implied HN points • 03 Feb 25
🕹 Technology AI User Experience Design Digital Tools Innovation
  1. Technology, especially in healthcare, is advancing faster than many people age. This means tools like hearing aids are improving rapidly, helping users hear better than before.
  2. AI is starting to transform the design industry. It's becoming crucial for UX professionals to specialize in specific fields, like healthcare, because AI will handle many basic design tasks in the future.
  3. Students are increasingly using AI for schoolwork, and this trend is doubling yearly. Instead of seeing this as cheating, education should embrace AI as a valuable tool for learning.

UX Roundup: Status Updates | AI Tutoring | UX Optimism | Ideogram Text | AI-UX Conference | EU Multilingual LLM

7 implied HN points • 10 Feb 25
🕹 Technology UX Design AI Tools Conferences Language processing
  1. If stakeholders have to ask for a status update, it's a sign that communication could be better. It’s important to keep them informed about your progress without them having to ask.
  2. Using AI tutoring can significantly boost learning speed. In a study, students learned as much in 6 weeks as they typically would in 2 years with traditional education.
  3. A new text editing feature in AI tools allows for more control over design choices. This means you can adjust text directly on generated images without extra editing software.

UX Roundup: AI Research Window | AI Skill Substitution | World Economic Forum Predicts More UX Jobs | AI-UX Consultant | Bad Bird Lip-Synch

19 implied HN points • 20 Jan 25
🕹 Technology AI UX Design Job Market Research Consulting
  1. There is a limited time to study how people use AI since soon everyone will have experience with it. Right now, researchers can still compare results between people who use AI and those who don't.
  2. The introduction of AI is changing job markets significantly. Some jobs, like translation, are declining, while others, like web development, are booming because AI helps workers be more productive.
  3. The World Economic Forum predicts that UX jobs will grow by 50% in the next five years. While there's some skepticism about job predictions, there is a general agreement that UX roles will keep increasing as AI continues to evolve.

UX Roundup: Wealth and Happiness | Wealth and AI | ASI and Unemployment

13 implied HN points • 27 Jan 25
🕹 Technology AI Economics User Experience Productivity Wealth
  1. There's a strong link between wealth and happiness. Generally, richer people tend to report being happier, showing that money does matter to a degree.
  2. AI has the potential to significantly boost our living standards over the next couple of decades. Even a doubling of wealth can make a big difference in people's lives.
  3. Superintelligent AI won't make humans obsolete. History shows that when smarter workers enter the workforce, new jobs and opportunities usually arise, benefiting everyone.

Design Leaders Should Go “Founder Mode”

69 implied HN points • 21 Nov 24
🪑 Design UX Design Leadership Product Development Team Dynamics
  1. Design leaders should adopt a hands-on, founder-like approach rather than climbing traditional corporate ladders. This allows for more effective and quick decision-making.
  2. AI can greatly boost productivity in design teams, allowing smaller teams to achieve results that used to require larger departments. This leads to flatter organizational structures.
  3. Being a leader in design today means having a clear vision for the team's success and making sure that vision fits well with the rest of the organization.

Top 10 UX Articles of 2024

27 implied HN points • 30 Dec 24
🕹 Technology User Experience Artificial Intelligence Design principles Professional development
  1. AI is changing the UX field, making it easier and faster for designers. It's not replacing designers but helping them work better together.
  2. UX leadership is shifting from traditional methods to more hands-on, innovative approaches. This means leaders need to be closely involved with their teams.
  3. It's important for UX professionals to adapt their skills and work closely with business goals. They need to show how their work can help the business make money.

UX Roundup: Poor AI Performance Conversing with Patients | AI Character Mashups | 2025 AI Trends | Accelerating Science

15 implied HN points • 13 Jan 25
🕹 Technology AI Healthcare UX Design Trends Research
  1. AI does not perform well in conversations with patients. It struggles to ask important follow-up questions, leading to missed information.
  2. Some famous characters are now public domain, allowing for creative mashups and new stories using AI. This could change how content is produced.
  3. In 2025, we can expect powerful AI trends, including smarter AI agents that can think and plan, and a mix of very large and very small AI models for different uses.

Service as a Software: The New SaaS

27 implied HN points • 19 Dec 24
🕹 Technology AI Software SaaS Automation Consulting
  1. AI is changing how we work by making professional skills available almost instantly and at a low cost. This shift will allow tasks that used to require human expertise to be done by software.
  2. The new idea of 'Service as a Software' (SaaS) could disrupt many professional jobs by automating services like consulting, legal work, and design. This could lead to a significant boost in the economy.
  3. As AI becomes smarter and cheaper, it's expected to make high-quality expertise available to more people, changing how businesses operate and creating new opportunities in various fields.

UX Roundup: 2025 UX Themes | Put New AI Models to the Test | AI Slide Creation | AI Analyzing Usability Tests | AI Job Creation | AI & UX Jobs

11 implied HN points • 06 Jan 25
🕹 Technology AI User Experience Job Market Usability testing Trends
  1. AI can help create slide presentations automatically from written content. This saves time and makes presenting easier.
  2. Using new AI models can improve work tasks, but it's important to regularly test these new tools to see if they perform better than older versions.
  3. AI is changing job landscapes. While some jobs might go away, new ones that require skills to work with AI are popping up, leading to more opportunities overall.

UX Roundup: Jakob Keynote Video | University Courses | 8 Uses of AI for UX Design | Museum Usability

32 implied HN points • 18 Nov 24
🕹 Technology UX Design AI Applications User Research
  1. AI is becoming a major force in UX design, helping teams work faster and more efficiently. It's taking over mundane tasks, allowing designers to focus on more important work.
  2. Educational programs are starting to include AI in their UX courses, preparing future designers for the changing landscape of the industry. This is a positive step for those looking to enter the field.
  3. Good usability in places like museums can greatly improve visitor experience. Clear signage and easy navigation are key factors in making sure everyone enjoys their visit.

Top 10 UX Videos of 2024

11 implied HN points • 02 Jan 25
🕹 Technology User Experience AI Tools Video Production Digital Media
  1. In 2024, AI video creation really improved a lot. By the end of the year, the videos looked and sounded much better than the videos made earlier, almost like real productions.
  2. Some popular videos were made with AI tools and others were shot with real people. This mix made for interesting content, showing how both methods can be effective.
  3. Advancements in AI also allowed for podcasts and videos to be translated into multiple languages, making it easier to reach audiences around the world.

UX Roundup: AI-UX One-Day Conference | AI Format Remixing | UXR Prompt Cheatsheet | Research Report Renaissance | Worst UI Ever | Flexible Displays | Scaling Law for Physical AI | Podcast | Le Chat

25 implied HN points • 25 Nov 24
🕹 Technology AI UX Design Conferences User Research Interface Design
  1. There is an online conference on December 4 that focuses on using AI in UX design. It's a great chance to learn about best practices and improve your skills.
  2. AI can help repurpose content into different formats, like turning articles into videos or podcasts. This makes sharing ideas easier and more engaging.
  3. Keeping a research repository is important because AI can quickly pull insights from past studies to answer new questions. This saves time and improves the impact of user research.

Better AI Creative Writing?

23 implied HN points • 27 Nov 24
🕹 Technology AI Creative Writing Machine Learning Natural Language Processing User Experience
  1. The latest version of ChatGPT showed some improvement in creative writing over the past year, especially in children's stories. It produced longer stories with more engaging content.
  2. When it comes to writing poetry, the changes were minor. The recent poems didn't stand out much compared to last year's efforts.
  3. Overall, while there's some progress in AI writing skills, it's still quite limited. Bigger advancements are expected in the next generation of AI models.

AI With “Computer Use”: Agents, Accessibility Fix, Facilitating Usability Tests

27 implied HN points • 07 Nov 24
🕹 Technology AI User Experience Accessibility Automation Research Methods
  1. AI can now operate computers just like humans, which means it can click, type, and understand what’s on the screen. This makes using computers easier for everyone, especially for those who struggle with traditional interfaces.
  2. AI agents are expected to take over simple tasks for users, like booking hotels or managing reservations, making life more convenient. However, understanding personal preferences may take some time for AI to improve.
  3. AI's capability to watch and analyze user interactions can help conduct usability studies more effectively. This could lead to better products, as AI can help gather insights about how real users behave.

UX Roundup: Designing AI Voices | AI Narrows Skill Gaps | New Music Video | Talk to Santa | Misadventures in Image Prompting | Bezos 95% AI | Multi-Tool AI Workflow | AI-UX Jobs

11 implied HN points • 16 Dec 24
🕹 Technology AI UX Design Video creation Employment Trends
  1. AI voice design can now express emotions, allowing users to create custom voices with specific feelings like enthusiasm or assertiveness. This could be especially valuable for brands looking to connect with their audiences more effectively.
  2. Recent studies show that AI helps less skilled users improve more than skilled users, meaning it can level the playing field. AI acts like a mental forklift, making complex tasks easier for everyone.
  3. Combining different AI tools is often necessary to create things like music videos, as each tool has its strengths. There's a big opportunity for new AI products that simplify this process and focus on user intent.

UX Roundup: Sora: Not Impressed | AI Startups Growth | Hiring Staff with AI Skills | 150K LinkedIn Followers | AI Training on YouTube | Apple Intelligence Useless | Dr. AI | New o3 model

9 implied HN points • 23 Dec 24
🕹 Technology AI Software User Experience Startups Social media
  1. AI startups are growing really fast, with many making 10% more each month. This growth is now normal because of the buzz around AI.
  2. It's important to hire people who know how to work with AI. One way to test candidates is to have them solve problems using AI during the interview.
  3. Many users find Apple's AI features not very helpful, showing that just adding AI to a product doesn't guarantee it will be useful or improve the experience.

UX Roundup: AI Follow-Up Questions in Usability Studies | Top UX Evaluation Methods | AI Use in UX | Keep Users in the Flow | New Grok Image Model

11 implied HN points • 11 Dec 24
🕹 Technology User Experience Artificial Intelligence Usability testing
  1. AI can help in usability studies by asking follow-up questions, but it might not ask deep questions like a human can. This means while AI can assist, it can't fully replace human moderators just yet.
  2. The top user experience methods remain user interviews, remote user testing, and heuristic evaluations. These methods have been popular for decades and are still essential in UX work.
  3. AI is not widely used in UX yet, with many professionals using it only occasionally. Learning to use AI in UX can give you a big advantage in your career as the field evolves.

Can AI Identify an Author’s Background from a Writing Sample?

5 implied HN points • 09 Jan 25
🕹 Technology AI Writing User Experience Data Analysis Language processing
  1. Current AI tools struggle to accurately determine someone's background from their writing. They often miss subtle clues that could reveal a person's origin.
  2. Different AI models can give varying guesses about an author's background. Some might guess English native speakers or Americans when the real background is different.
  3. To test AI's ability, you can try analyzing your own writing through an AI tool. It can be fun to see if the AI gets your background right!

Top 10 UX Images of 2024

7 implied HN points • 26 Dec 24
🕹 Technology UX Design AI Tools Graphic design Digital Art
  1. Images are becoming more important in UX design now that most people have fast internet. It’s okay to include bigger images to help communicate ideas.
  2. AI can really improve UX design by making processes easier and more efficient. It’s being used to help with everything from diagnosis in healthcare to UI design.
  3. There are too many annoying cookie pop-ups on websites that waste users' time. Instead of punishing sites for minor issues, we should focus on real problems that affect privacy.

UX Roundup: AI Video Editing | AI Avatars Compared | NotebookLM Team Leaves

11 implied HN points • 05 Dec 24
🕹 Technology AI Tools Video Editing Product Development User Experience
  1. CapCut is an AI video editor that, while powerful, is not as easy to learn as people say. Users can edit videos by working with AI-generated transcripts, which can improve the final cut.
  2. Creating AI avatars can be done through different services like Humva, D-ID, and HeyGen. Humva is the easiest to use, while HeyGen offers the most features but is also the most complex.
  3. It's smarter to subscribe to AI services monthly rather than yearly. AI changes quickly, and you want to be flexible to switch to better tools as they become available.

UX Roundup: Cookie Banners Waste Time | Building AI Infrastructure | Bigger AI Training Clusters | AI Avatar Keynote Summary

11 implied HN points • 02 Dec 24
🕹 Technology User Experience E-commerce Digital Media Data Privacy
  1. Cookie consent banners waste a huge amount of time for users, costing billions in productivity. Most people ignore them or find them useless.
  2. NVIDIA's approach to building AI infrastructure allows for significantly faster performance improvements compared to traditional methods, promising exciting advancements in AI capabilities.
  3. Virtual try-on technology is becoming more accessible, allowing users to see how clothes look on them without needing a photoshoot, which can change the shopping experience.

UX Roundup: ElevenLabs Podcast | Usability Guidelines as Figma Plugin | AI Kills Companies | o1 and o1 Pro

9 implied HN points • 09 Dec 24
🕹 Technology AI Design Usability Podcasts Business Models
  1. ElevenLabs has a new podcast feature called GenFM, but it feels less fun to listen to compared to Google's podcast version. While it's informative, it follows more of a Q&A style than a dynamic discussion.
  2. Baymard Institute's new Figma plugin offers usability guidelines for web design, making it easier for designers to access important research while they work. This should help create better websites more efficiently.
  3. AI is significantly disrupting companies like Chegg and Stack Overflow, leading to big drops in their business. As AI technology advances, we can expect more industries to feel its impact and change how they operate.

UX Roundup: Design Metrics | Users Don’t Like to Read | Kids and Dark Design | Chinese Design | Single Name Field | Stop CAPTCHA

15 implied HN points • 21 Oct 24
🕹 Technology User Experience Artificial Intelligence Design principles Digital Culture
  1. Design metrics should focus on user value, such as how quickly they can complete tasks. Faster completion times lead to happier users and more engagement.
  2. Most users prefer to get straight to the point and often skip reading long instructions or explanations. Keeping things simple and clear is essential.
  3. Children are becoming more aware of misleading design patterns online, but many still struggle to identify them accurately. Educating kids about digital design can help them navigate online spaces more safely.

Accessibility Has Failed: Try Generative UI = Individualized UX

89 implied HN points • 29 Feb 24
🕹 Technology Accessibility AI User Interface UX Design
  1. Traditional accessibility methods have not significantly improved computer usability for disabled users, prompting the need for a new approach like Generative UI for tailored user experiences.
  2. Accessibility has faced challenges due to high costs and ultimately creating a subpar user experience, especially for blind users with auditory interfaces.
  3. Supporting older and low-literacy users has been more successful with current methods, highlighting the importance of considering their needs alongside generative UI for wider user inclusivity.

Strong AI Creativity

15 implied HN points • 17 Oct 24
🕹 Technology AI Creativity Innovation Human-Machine Interaction Research
  1. AI is proving to be more creative than humans in generating ideas. Studies show that AI can outscore humans in creativity tasks, both when working alone and even in some co-creation scenarios.
  2. Humans tend to judge AI-generated ideas unfairly. There is a bias against AI, as its ideas are often rated lower just because people know they are from AI, even if the ideas are the same.
  3. AI is also outperforming human researchers in academic creativity. In comparing AI-generated research ideas to those from junior human scientists, AI scored better in novelty, excitement, and overall effectiveness.

What AI Can and Cannot Do for UX

87 implied HN points • 01 Feb 24
🕹 Technology AI UX Design Research Creativity
  1. AI has a strong role in user experience and professionals should embrace it.
  2. AI is creative, productive, and can create and analyze content at scale.
  3. AI may eventually design good user interfaces but will never replace the need for human users in user research.

UX Roundup: World Usability Day | Bits to Atoms | Doing vs. Learning | AI Denial

9 implied HN points • 11 Nov 24
🕹 Technology AI UX Robotics Education Usability
  1. World Usability Day is on November 14, and it's a chance to appreciate good design. Instead of only pointing out bad usability, try to share something that has made your experience better.
  2. Humanoid robots like Tesla's Optimus could become a reality within the next 5 to 10 years. These robots are being designed to closely mimic human movements and may handle most physical work.
  3. AI can be a helpful learning tool, but the way you use it matters. Students learn better when AI acts as a teacher rather than doing the work for them, so it’s best to engage with AI for deeper learning.