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AI Can’t Have Lived Experience: Why That’s a Problem

By Frank Spillers, a leading expert in UX, Service Design and Inclusive Design

Summary: Call centre customers are rejecting AI-only support roll-outs. This is a major red flag for UX and service designers. It’s not enough for AI to be functional or cost-effective. If AI undermines user trust, strips out context, or removes human options, it becomes a liability. A Warning for AI-First: Why Customers Are Rejecting AI-Only...

Most Recent Posts

Red Flag: No AI without UX

Frank SpillersJune 19, 2025

Summary: Call centre customers are rejecting AI-only support roll-outs. This is a major...

african villagers interviewed by white male ux researcher.jpg

AI Can’t Have Lived Experience: Why That’s a Problem

Frank SpillersJune 11, 2025

Summary: AI can’t have lived experience. This fact is a critical limitation, especially...

An Asian female UX designer discusses mobile app prototypes, as a white female dev listens.

Why Jumping to Solutions Is Holding Your Team Back

Frank SpillersJune 5, 2025

Summary: Why jumping to solutions is holding your team back…And what to do...

Three robots with evil eyes stare- AI AGI is a fantasy

The State of AI: Actual vs Imagined

Frank SpillersApril 21, 2025

Summary: AI is in a state of growth and transition. But its destination...

Two women engaging in a one-on-one counseling session in a cozy, well-lit room, one expressing herself while the other listens attentively. The listener demonstrates UX research empathy

Untangling the empathy backlash in UX

Frank SpillersApril 16, 2025

Summary: What topic draws condemnation and sparks eye-rolls in UX? Empathy. Empathy, the...

The problem with Inclusive Design and Temporary Disabilities

Frank SpillersApril 10, 2025

Summary: By elevating temporary disabilities, you may quickly lose the plot of the...

Improv Is the New Prompt Engineering for AI UX

Summary: At its core, improvisation is about responding with presence, listening deeply, and co-creating meaning in real time. These same qualities are now critical in designing practical and ethical AI…

Storytelling: UX Soft Skill You Can’t Ignore

Summary: Assumptions of users plague corporate dev & design teams. Instead, stories of user’s lived experience help dispel assumptions about users. Furthermore, internal teams are filled with unconscious biases— the biggest of which…

Defining Efficiency in DOGE: A Human-Centered Approach

Summary: Efficiency in government is often measured in cost savings, speed, and automation. But if efficiency doesn’t improve outcomes for people, is it truly efficient? The US Department of Government Efficiency…

New read in the UX Inner Circle Book Club

March – May 2025 Join us for group discussions of Closing the Loop by Sheryl Cababa… Moderated by John Alberts, Learning Advocate UXIC Cost: FREE- Open to anyone, register for Open…

UX Maturity + Stakeholder Management

Summary: The more you involve and manage stakeholders in UX and Service Design projects and programmes, the more growth you can get from UX ROI. If your stakeholders are absent, you’ll…

The value of engaged stakeholders

Summary: Stakeholders provide essential insights about business goals, user needs, and organizational constraints. By involving them early, you align project objectives, ensuring the team designs solutions that address real problems and…

Why Problem Framing is Essential for UX

Why Problem Framing is essential in UX? In UX and service design, the first step to crafting effective, user-centered solutions is understanding the problem at hand. Yet, it’s common for…

Bye Slack, hello social community for UXIC

Member Update: We recently opened up the UX Inner Circle to a free membership type: Open Circle. No excuse for your continued learning now 😉 >> Open Circle membership includes…

What comes before ease of use?

Summary: Ease of use is the easy part. What comes before ease of use is context, which is the environment, circumstances, and conditions under which a product will be used. Understanding…

Feeling Local: a Cross-cultural design guide

Summary: Cross-cultural design means creating products that resonate with diverse cultures. By understanding and respecting cultural differences, designers can create culturally adoptable products, services, and experiences. If something ‘feels local,’…