Visible Logic

A designer tests a new AI feature. It delivers the right result on the first try. The room nods, impressed, until someone asks how it got it right. The question hangs in the air a little too long, and the excitement fades into quiet uncertainty. The problem isn’t the answer itself, it’s not knowing how the answer came to be.

An AI that hides its reasoning makes even good results feel fragile. Trust doesn’t come from speed or accuracy, it comes from clarity. Our work as designers is to build that clarity in.

• Reveal the path, not just the answer. People don’t need a technical breakdown, they just need a glimpse of logic. A short “because” - a hint at why something appeared - turns a black box into a glass one.

• Express uncertainty clearly. No system knows everything, and pretending otherwise only widens the gap between people and trust. Show confidence as a range, use language that leaves room for probability. Honest design communicates doubt gracefully.

• Keep users in the review loop. Let them see what shaped the outcome: the sources, signals, or steps the system considered. When users can check the reasoning, they stop guessing and start collaborating.

When AI joins the design process, it becomes a voice in the room. It should explain its choices the same way a teammate would - with enough context for others to follow, question, and refine. The clearer that voice, the stronger the trust that builds around it.