

How to Run a UX Design Critique
Summary : A design crit should implement strategic participant roles, 24-hour context share, and rigorous prioritization frameworks. This allows cross-functional teams to align technical feasibility with business objectives in a design, mitigating costly development risks and driving product excellence. Unless you follow the defined process in this article, a design critique can easily be derailed. (Nano Banana 2) Ever felt like design reviews are just messy arguments? Tired

Jakob Nielsen
Mar 1229 min read


UX Roundup: GUI Heroes | Great AI Videos | AI Won’t Kill Software | Bing GEO | AI Capability Growth | Google AI UX | One-Shot Video | GPT 5.4 Writing
Summary : Using Nano Banana 2 to render the heroes of the graphical user interface as a monument | Two examples of great AI (short) videos | AI won’t kill software | Bing reports AI citations of your website | AI task horizons keep increasing | Google simplifies its AI product architecture | One-shot instructional AI video from NotebookLM | GPT 5.4 is probably a better writer than 5.2 UX Roundup for March 9, 2026 (Nano Banana 2) Using Nano Banana 2 To Render the Heroes of the

Jakob Nielsen
Mar 916 min read


The Capability Maturity Model for AI in Design
Summary: Six levels of AI design maturity. Early levels involve skepticism and ad-hoc tool use. Later levels embed AI into design systems and product delivery. The highest level envisions AI generating interfaces autonomously. As interfaces dissolve into real-time-generated experiences, the designer’s role shifts from pixel pusher to system gardener. The article includes a self-assessment framework and emphasizes the need to progress one level at a time to successfully instit

Jakob Nielsen
Mar 517 min read


UX Roundup: AI is the Computer | Disrupting Filmed Entertainment | UX Trends | GOMS | Nano Banana 2 | Lyria 3
Summary : The AI is the computer | AI is disrupting the filmed entertainment industry | UX trends for 2026 | AI can use the GOMS UI analysis method | New image model: Nano Banana 2 | New music model: Lyria 3 UX Roundup for March 2, 2026 (Nano Banana 2) The AI is the Computer Aravind Srinivas (the founder of Perplexity, which is probably the best AI-driven answer engine but has ambitions to be more) wrote an interesting essay titled “ The AI is the Computer .” When I worked a

Jakob Nielsen
Mar 215 min read


History of the Graphical User Interface: The Rise (and Fall?) of WIMP Design
Summary: The GUI’s success wasn’t about any single invention, but a synergy of 4 elements: Window, Icon, Menu, and Pointer, through a 60-year history of usability improvements. But the era of WIMP is drawing to an end with a radical shift toward Generative UI and World Models, in which static menus are replaced by fluid, intent-driven AI interactions. (I made all the comics in this article with Nano Banana Pro.) The evolution of the Graphical User Interface (GUI) represents

Jakob Nielsen
Feb 2339 min read


UX Roundup: Year of the Horse | Creative Workflow | AI Coding | Usability Scaling | Was I Right or Wrong? | 30,000 Citations | Winning AI Video
Summary : Year of the Fire Horse | Reversing creative workflows | AI coding wins complete dominance | Usability scaling continues | 40 years of being right become 40 years of being wrong | Usability Engineering book passes 30,000 citations | Award-winning AI video UX Roundup for February 16, 2026: Happy Year of the Horse! (xx) Year of the Fire Horse Happy Year of the Horse! But it’s not just any old horse this year, it’s the fire horse, a combination that only comes aroun

Jakob Nielsen
Feb 1615 min read


Time to Build: Marc Andreessen on a World in Transition
Summary: We possess the philosopher’s stone in the form of AI (transmuting cheap sand into expensive thought), tutoring that used to be limited to emperors (also AI), and tools that transcend biological limits (AI again). The only thing holding us back is our willingness to act, because humans still need agency. AI works. The question is: will you? I have long been a fan of Marc Andreessen, the man who built the first practical GUI web browser and now co-leads Silicon Valle

Jakob Nielsen
Feb 98 min read


UX Roundup: AI Judgment | Heuristic Evaluation | Consistent Brand Assets | New Music Model
Summary : AI judgment may follow a scaling law | Scaling AI’s judgment of usability heuristics | Generating consistent visual design assets with AI | New AI music model: Mureka O2 UX Roundup for February 2, 2026. (Nano Banana Pro) AI Judgment May Follow a Scaling Law The “bitter lesson” just became more bitter for those humans who still believe in meatware supremacy and their “unique” ability to have “taste” or judgment about what’s best among the ceaseless AI creations. A

Jakob Nielsen
Feb 29 min read


2026 Predictions as a Comic Book and Poster Series
Summary: Short and easily digested versions of Jakob Nielsen’s 18 predictions for UX and AI in 2026: A 10-Page comic book and a series of 10 posters. My 18 predictions for UX and AI in 2026 turned into a very long article of almost 10,000 words. I recommend reading the full thing, because details matter. But if you’re pressed for time, here are three fast ways of getting an overview: Music video about AI & UX in 2026 (YouTube, 5 min.) A 10-page comic strip A series of 10 s

Jakob Nielsen
Jan 266 min read


UX Roundup: 2026 Predictions | AI Analyzing Usability | Character Consistency | DeepMind Documentary | Amazon Agent | AI Prescriptions | Mechanical Turk
Summary : New video with 2026 predictions for AI & UX | AI analyzing usability test recordings | Character consistency still difficult | Google DeepMind documentary film | Amazon’s ecommerce agent Rufus does well | AI renews drug prescriptions | Problems using Mechanical Turk for user research UX Roundup for January 19, 2026. (Nano Banana Pro) 2026 Predictions: The Music Video The article with my 18 predictions for AI and UX in 2026 is very long (almost 10,000 words), so I

Jakob Nielsen
Jan 1917 min read


18 Predictions for 2026
Summary: Accelerating AI capabilities will shift focus from raw intelligence to autonomous agents and Generative UI, making UX the primary business moat. Multimodal integration and physical AI will revolutionize workflows, rendering static interfaces and single-purpose tools obsolete. However, progress faces hurdles like compute shortages and a widening class divide between premium and free-tier users. Let’s peek into Jakob’s crystal ball to see what’s ahead for 2026. (Nano

Jakob Nielsen
Jan 1337 min read


Quiz Answers: What Happened in UX & AI in 2025?
The 70 correct answers to the quiz about developments in UX and AI in 2025, including links to the full articles with more information.

Jakob Nielsen
Jan 853 min read


The Big Tough UX-AI Quiz
Summary: 70 hard questions about the last year in UX and AI. Did you master the fast pace of recent developments? Give the quiz a try and count up your score! Do you dare take my quiz? (GPT Image 1.5) I published more than 100 articles last year (see my list of the year’s top 10 articles and 10 main themes ). This quiz probes topics across the gamut of my coverage. Try answering these questions to check how much you learned from what happened in 2025. I have posted the answe

Jakob Nielsen
Jan 523 min read


The Year in Image Generation
Summary: For each month of 2025, here is the best image I made that month. The collection shows the progress of AI-generated images over the year, in terms of the complexity of imagery that creators can now attempt. I used 5 different image tools to create the winning pictures, using GPT Image-1 the most. (Nano Banana Pro) 2025 made one thing clear: image rendering is no longer the hard part. Editorial selection is. When you can generate dozens of plausible variations in a

Jakob Nielsen
Dec 28, 202511 min read


UX Roundup: 2025 Predictions Revisited | AI Paradigm Shifts | AI and Doctor Burnout | Useful AI Sells
Summary : Predictions for UX in 2025 revisited | 2025 saw major paradigm changes in AI | Simple AI reduces doctors’ burnout | Fast sales growth for providers of useful AI services UX Roundup for December 22, 2025. (Nano Banana Pro) Merry Christmas Merry Christmas from UX Tigers and Jakob Nielsen. (Nano Banana Pro) I hope you have a wonderful and peaceful holiday season. Watch my UX Christmas Song (YouTube, 2 min.), and compare with my 2024 Christmas Song to appreciate how f

Jakob Nielsen
Dec 22, 202521 min read
