Agent Experience
Agent Experience (AX) is the design discipline that ensures AI agents can discover, understand, and execute interface operations reliably. It is the agent-facing counterpart to User Experience (UX).
Why a Separate Discipline?
Human users and AI agents consume interfaces through fundamentally different modalities:
| Dimension | Human User | AI Agent |
|---|---|---|
| Perception | Visual (eyes scan layout) | Structural (reads metadata) |
| Understanding | Contextual (infers from surroundings) | Declarative (reads explicit contracts) |
| Interaction | Physical (click, type, drag) | Programmatic (invoke operations) |
| Error recovery | Intuitive (reads error messages) | Structured (parses error codes) |
| Trust | Experiential (learns through use) | Contractual (relies on declared guarantees) |
Designing for both modalities requires explicit attention to agent needs — just as accessibility requires explicit attention to the needs of users with disabilities.
AX Design Principles
1. Declarative Over Inferential
Agents should read explicit declarations, not infer meaning from visual presentation.
2. Structured Over Unstructured
Operations should be defined with typed parameters, not loose text descriptions.
3. Safe By Default
Destructive operations should require explicit opt-in, not implicit trust.
4. Discoverable Over Hidden
Available operations should be cataloged in manifests, not hidden in navigation hierarchies.
5. Versioned Over Volatile
Semantic contracts should be versioned and governed, not changed without notice.