UX Sofia is an international UX (User Experience) conference focusing on design, usability, and user research. It is organized by Lucrat.
- Using tables, graphs, diagrams, and other visual tools for easier perception, understanding, use, and decision-making.
- Visualizing objects and processes in user interfaces to facilitate the interaction of people with software products, with a particular focus on design systems as the meta-language of this visualization.
- The possibilities for “smart” interfaces offered by AI, and what changes it brings to how we design interfaces and interactions.
According to the law of conservation of complexity (or Tesler’s law), the complexity of a given application (or system) at a given time is constant. Complexity cannot be eliminated or hidden, it can only be taken on and processed. The role of the designer is to help shift the complexity towards being dealt with and processed by the software, not the user.
According to Bruce Tognazzini’s complexity paradox, people strive for a given or higher complexity, no matter what we do to make things easier for them. By making the execution of a given task faster, users will try a more difficult task with the application. In other words, by shifting the complexity of the application to the software, we free up space and give users opportunities to supplement the freed-up complexity with more challenging tasks. Accordingly, there is work for designers again.
Artificial intelligence, or large language models if we are not ready to call them intelligence, brings new possibilities for changes in the complexity equation. AI makes some tasks faster, and others simply possible now. People will want to try new, more challenging tasks because AI frees up space in their complexity box and they will try to fill it.
AI creates new paradigms in the interaction between people and software. It also poses new challenges. As designers, our task is to deal with the challenges so that we can continue to help shift complexity towards the software. The new software has new capabilities, which means we need to look for new approaches. One such new approach is “sentient design”.
According to Josh Clark, the concept of sentient design refers to the design of intelligent interfaces that are aware of the context and intent of users and adapt to the user needs in a given moment.
During the conference, we will examine whether and to what extent AI, through sentient design, is in a position to revolutionize the way we interact with and experience the digital world. By implementing a degree of “awareness” and responsiveness in interfaces, artificial intelligence can create highly personalized and adaptive interactions that cater to individual needs and preferences. This shift transcends the current static and one-size-fits-all model, leading to interfaces that intuitively anticipate user actions and provide relevant information in real-time.
In the realm of data visualization, AI’s ability to rapidly process and analyze vast datasets allows for the creation of dynamic and interactive representations that can be tailored to the user’s level of expertise and specific goals. This empowers users to explore complex data in a more meaningful and intuitive way, uncovering insights that might otherwise remain hidden.
By bridging the gap between design systems and data visualization, AI-driven sentient design offers a future where data is seamlessly integrated into our interactions, and interfaces are not just tools, but intelligent partners in our digital journey. The UX Sofia 2025 conference aims to explore this exciting frontier, delving into the potential of AI and sentient design to reshape the landscape of user experience and data consumption.