Streaming UIs
Agents streaming UI is starting to happen by Peter Van Dijck
Christine Vallaure wrote about a new protocol from Google in UXdesign. Basically, if the interface is generated fresh for each request and then thrown away, the unit of design stops being the screen and becomes the system that decides what screen to make — which is context design, not screen design.
When I think about on-demand UI generation, I reach back to how working with computers are supposed to work in Star Trek (The Next Generation and after): interaction is a mix of voice commands and pushing buttons on the interface. The interface is a mix of permanent buttons (for example steering the ship) and on demand UI generated to fit a specific purpose, like running an experimental process.
A character from the TV show Star Trek: Voyager using an LCARS UI
When somebody (in-universe) designed the system, they made the system of UI elements, and how generated elements should work as a system. As even generated elements can work without any apparent onboarding (provided the users have domain knowledge), it’s not only about the individual elements, but also the rules how complete flows come together.