Why is the user experience of ChatGPT so powerful?

An example of how no-UI software can create a frictionless experience, a small learning curve and a “wow” effect for users.

Created with DALL-E

In just five days, ChatGPT, application from OpenAI, gained 1 million users. This rapid rise in popularity has led some to predict that ChatGPT will disrupt not only search engines, but also fields such as e-learning, writing, and editing. Others are already comparing Google’s user experience with ChatGPT, addressing key differences related to ChatGPT’s strengths.

This software is not only an entertaining chatbot with which you can have fun conversations, but it is also a useful tool that can help you write great articles, stories, essays, and learn new things in different languages. With its advanced natural language processing capabilities, this app can assist you in a wide range of tasks and help you expand your knowledge and skills.

All of that power comes with a really simple and minimalistic user interface that follows many good principles in user experience design. The app’s UI is designed to be intuitive and easy to use, making it accessible to people of all ages and backgrounds. With its clean and uncluttered layout, the app’s UI allows you to focus on the task at hand and quickly find the information or tools you need.

The Best Interface is No Interface

One of the key strengths of ChatGPT is its simple user interface that follows the no-UI approach, in which the best interface is no interface. This means that the app’s UI is designed to be as minimalistic and unobtrusive as possible. The no-UI approach is based on the idea that the best user experience is one in which the user is not even aware of the interface, as they can seamlessly and effortlessly accomplish their goals without being hindered by the UI.

This simplicity is a crucial UX aspect of ChatGPT’s success, as it allows users to focus on the conversation and the task at hand, rather than being overwhelmed by the technology.

Just take a look at this screen:

UI of ChatGPT with answer on question. Few UI components and elements, nothing more.

Really simple and intuitive, with no complex menus, options, drop-downs, tabs, buttons and infinite lists with other interface elements to navigate.

Instead, there is just a single input field that allows users to do everything they need to do with the product. In the future, this input field has the potential to become even more powerful, allowing users to do everything they could do with buttons, menus, checkboxes, and other interface elements.

ChatGPT is an example that shows how the no-UI approach could be applied to many enterprise applications that have a lot of tables, filters, options, and charts. Instead of clicking on five different filters and saving segments of data, as a business person, I could simply ask the software to show me e.g. a chart of the MRR for the last month, and plot the correlation between that and the productivity of my team. As a user, I can really ask the software what I need and get it!

Learnability

How long did it take you to learn to use this software? Probably a few seconds. You are already familiar with chat applications like Slack and Messenger. You already know where to click and what to do, and you know how to behave in a conversation with the system, just like you would with a real person. This is because the system looks and behaves like a real person, providing a genuine natural human experience. The user-friendly and intuitive nature of this software means that you can start using it quickly and easily, without the need for extensive training or instruction.

Call to Adventure

One of the great points of the experience I've had with ChatGPT is the "wow" effect that I get every time I discover new power and functionality in the software. For example, recently I discovered that the software can actually translate text, which is a really useful feature:

ChatGPT can translate your text on different languages

This allows me to have conversations with the app in different languages, or to easily translate text from one language to another. The fact that ChatGPT can do this is really impressive, and it shows the vast capabilities of the software.

Also, the software can write creative fictional stories and poems, help you in coding and provide you with step-by-step guides for practical problems you are facing.

One could argue that everything that the software can do should be clearly displayed and explained to the user. However, this could also cause a lot of confusion, as the user might not understand the capabilities of the software if the copy is not written well. A complex UI with a lot of features, infoboxes, tooltips, and links to a help desk could make the app overwhelming and difficult to use.

It’s better to have a simple and intuitive UI that allows the user to discover the power and functionality of the software on their own. This creates a sense of excitement and adventure, as the user can discover new capabilities of the app and be pleasantly surprised by its power. In this way, using ChatGPT is a rewarding and enjoyable experience, as the user can explore the capabilities of the software and be impressed by what it can do.

What is missing?

To this day, I have had an awesome experience with ChatGPT, but there are a few things that I think could be added to improve the app. Some of the most important things that I would like to see in the future are:

1. Saved answers — if I got a really good answer from ChatGPT, I would like to have the option (or ask the software) to save that answer for later use. So something like “Saved” is missing in the left sidebar.
2. External search — currently, ChatGPT is limited to working with the data that it has been trained on by its creators. This means that it cannot access external sources and resources, which has both advantages and disadvantages. One disadvantage is that it cannot provide answers to questions that require information from external sources, such as the current price of Bitcoin. However, this also has the advantage of providing trust in the data that ChatGPT uses, as the creators can carefully curate the information and ensure that it is accurate.
3. Trust and transparency— in addition to the limitations discussed above, another potential drawback of ChatGPT is its lack of transparency in terms of the references and sources it uses to generate answers. For example, if a user were to ask ChatGPT about the law of proximity, it would be helpful to have access to the references and sources that the software used to generate its answer. This would allow users to evaluate the reliability and credibility of the information provided, and give them confidence in the accuracy of the answers. Without this transparency, users may be unsure of the quality of the sources and references used by ChatGPT, which could decrease their trust in the software.
4. Images and media — another limitation of ChatGPT is its inability to provide images, videos, interactive charts, files, papers, and links in response to questions. As a text-based software, ChatGPT is limited to providing answers in the form of text, which can be limiting in certain situations. For example, if a user were to ask ChatGPT to plot a chart showing the growth of the population on Earth, the software would be unable to do so because it is not equipped to handle visual data.
5. Integrations — it would be great if ChatGPT could be integrated with other apps and services, such as email or scheduling tools. This would allow me to use the app to quickly and easily accomplish tasks that involve these other apps, without having to switch between them.

Conclusion

Overall, ChatGPT is a useful tool for providing text-based answers to a wide range of questions, and it can also be helpful for editing and writing. In fact, this article has been edited by ChatGPT.

What ChatGPT shows us is that products that have a simple UI, a small learning curve, and playful discovery features can create an intuitive, frictionless experience for users.

References and related links:

• How ChatGPT is blowing Google out of the water: a UX breakdown https://uxdesign.cc/how-chatgpt-is-blowing-google-out-of-the-water-a-ux-breakdown-784340c25d57
• Exploring the Power of OpenAI ChatGPT for product designers https://uxplanet.org/openai-chatgpt-dc035deec596
• ChatGPT https://openai.com/blog/chatgpt/
• An interview with ChatGPT about itself https://www.freethink.com/robots-ai/ai-chatbot-chatgpt
• The Best Interface Is No Interface: The Simple Path to Brilliant Technology https://www.amazon.com/Best-Interface-No-brilliant-technology/dp/0133890333