Beyond the Happy Path: Josh Clark & Veronika Kindred on “Sentient Design”
November 12, 2025
In this episode, host Damien Filiatrault talks with Josh Clark and Veronika Kindred of Big Medium about “Sentient Design”—interfaces that adapt to context and intent without ceding user control. You’ll hear a cross-generational take on rethinking UX best practices, from bespoke UIs that assemble trusted design-system components on the fly to the NPC pattern where AI participates alongside humans. They dig into defensive design—guardrails, reversibility, explainability, and graceful degradation—plus a practical split: let LLMs interpret intent, not act as the source of truth. If you’re building with AI, expect concrete patterns for smarter, safer products that keep suggestions deferential and users firmly in the driver’s seat.
Host Damien Filiatrault welcomes Josh Clark and Veronika Kindred—principal and researcher at Big Medium and co-authors of the forthcoming book Sentient Design—for a cross-generational look at how AI changes product and UX. They unpack what “sentient” really means in interfaces, why defensive design matters more than ever, and how to let intelligence co-pilot the presentation layer without giving up control.
What you’ll learn
- A practical definition of sentient design: context-aware, radically adaptive, collaborative, deferential, and ambient interfaces—without implying machine consciousness.
- How Gen Z “AI-native” instincts and decades of UX experience productively clash to re-question sacred “best practices.”
- Patterns for bespoke UI: letting AI assemble trusted design-system components (e.g., Salesforce’s generative canvas) to meet intent in the moment.
- The NPC pattern: AI as a visible participant in multi-user tools (comments, cursors, suggestions) instead of a side-chat.
- Defensive design: guardrails, explainability, reversible actions, and graceful degradation—designing for failure paths when there’s no single “happy path.”
- Why LLMs excel at intent translation (driving presentation choices) but shouldn’t be your source of truth.
Memorable sound bites
- “We can create genuinely new experiences when we weave intelligence into the interface.”
- “There is no happy path anymore—so design guardrails, not just flows.”
- “Delegate decisions, don’t abdicate them—suggest, don’t impose.”
- “LLMs aren’t answer machines; they’re great at interpreting intent.”
- “When the escalator fails, it turns into stairs—your product should, too.”
Tune in for grounded tactics to add AI as a design material: smarter dashboards, safer autonomy, and collaboration patterns that keep users in control while moving faster.
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