We often hear about shiny new tools that change everything (again). But in practice, most people I don’t need more tools face in your daily life. What we really need is better integrations of useful capabilities that align perfectly with our existing and established mental models.
Users aren’t excited about shiny new “smart” workflows, or navigating Terminal commands, or jumping between endless back-and-forth chat interactions. they need seamless integrations of useful features to address high-severity, high-frequency, and high-frustration issues.
1. AI first versus silent AI
I have always been baffled by the idea of “AI first” products. They could speed up production, but first we have to know very well what we really want to build. AI first often does not take into account Years of small and big design decisions. that have shaped expectations and mental models over the years.
I love the notion of “Silent AI”. These are tools that are mostly invisible, staying in the background and performing small tasks on behalf of the user. They never scream for attention, but they happily help with repetitive and frustrating tasks that can easily be automated or helped with a smart helper.
Great examples of silent AI include Claude’s integration within Microsoft Excel, PowerPoint and Word, providing in-context assistance without disrupting the user’s workflow.
2. Instructions folder for AI actions
So it’s no wonder I love the idea of folder instructions! There, users can define what a folder is supposed to do, depending on the purpose for which they created it. It sounds much more complicated than it really is.
The instructions define what the folder is for, how Files must be organized.how the subfolders should behave and what actions can occur inside them. Instead of manually maintaining a folder, you set your intent once and let the system follow it.
it’s a seamless integration of AI assistants just when and where users want and need it. With locally scoped permissions and actions for that specific folder on the user’s machine, unless the user extends access, permissions, or system rules on their own.
Below are some useful examples:
- for a passport renewalget the form and collect all the documents I need for it. Please inform us of the missing documents and complete the form to the best of your ability.
- When new invoices are added to the folder, renamed according to sequence, sorted by invoice number, and organized into folders by customer.
- when a A new PDF is added to the folder.generate a summary, send it to my pocket and send me an email notification.
Note: To delve deeper into this concept, you can go to Karthikeya GS’s wonderful post “Folder Instructions: Instructions for System Level AI”.
Concluding
User value doesn’t come from users having to juggle multiple apps, views, and sources every few minutes. That’s when they slow down and that’s when they make mistakes.
It comes from helping users do the work they need to do: reducing frustrationsslowdowns and errors, and taking care of tasks that would otherwise require too much time and effort to complete well.
One more time, seamless integrations — a very underutilized but incredibly impactful way to deliver value quickly, without adding the burden of installing and learning yet another tool.
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