As I develop KAMP—a no-code/low-code agent building platform—I find myself thinking deeply about UI/UX.
At first, I thought UI/UX was simply about “making systems easy for users to use.” Things like displaying the right information where users naturally look, or placing the right buttons where users naturally reach.
But lately, my thinking has shifted.
Users often don’t know what they want to do or what they should do—more often than you might expect. This is especially true for products like KAMP, which require a certain level of knowledge to use effectively.
From this perspective, a UI that delivers great UX isn’t one that places the right buttons where users reach—it’s one that makes users naturally compelled to press those buttons. In other words, a UI that can “manipulate” users. It’s a subtle but important distinction.
Of course, you should never make users feel frustrated or deceived. UI anti-patterns—like full-screen popups that block everything, or buttons that appear with a delay right where another button used to be—can manipulate users, but they also alienate them.
So does KAMP have a good UI that guides user behavior? Unfortunately, there’s still much room for improvement.
The concept of AI agentic systems is still relatively new, and I haven’t yet figured out what kind of UI best helps users intuitively understand how to build agents and do so comfortably.
The one consolation is that watching various companies—big tech included—each experimenting with their own approaches tells me I’m not the only one who hasn’t cracked this yet.
Standing at the edge of a path with no clear answers can be daunting, but the excitement outweighs the fear.
I look forward to the day when I discover something worth sharing—even if it’s not the definitive answer—and can write about it. Until then, I’ll keep wrestling with these questions.
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