We often hear about shiny new tools that change everything (yet again). But in practice, most people don’t need more tools to deal with in their daily lives. What we actually need are better integrations of useful capabilities that neatly align with our existing and established mental models.
Users don’t get excited about shiny new “smart” workflows, or navigating Terminal commands, or jumping between endless back-and-forth chat interactions. They need seamless integrations of useful features to address problems with high severity, high frequency, and a high level of frustration.
I’ve always been puzzled by the notion of “AI-first” products. They might speed up production, but we need to know really well first what we actually want to build. AI-first often doesn’t account for years of small and big design decisions that have shaped expectations and mental models over the years.
I love the notion of “Quiet AI”. These are tools that are mostly invisible, sit in the background, and do small tasks on the user’s behalf. They never scream for attention but happily assist in repetitive, frustrating tasks that can easily be automated or assisted with a smart helper.
Excellent examples of Quiet AI include Claude’s integration within Microsoft Excel, PowerPoint, and Word, providing assistance in context without disrupting the user's workflow.
2. Folder Instructions For AI ActionsSo no wonder that I absolutely love the idea of folder instructions! There, users can define what a folder is supposed to do, based on the purpose they created it for. It sounds much more complicated than it actually is.
The instructions define what the folder is for, how files should be organized, how sub-folders should behave, and what actions can happen inside. Instead of manually maintaining a
…
Source: Smashing Magazine (Published: Fri, 03 Jul 2026 13:00:00 GMT). Read the full article on the original site.
