Welcome to the first article in our “5 Questions with Team Miros” series, where we sit down with Ahto, our Head of UX.
1. How does designing for AI-powered products like Miros challenge traditional UX thinking?
In typical UX, you focus entirely on the user and their actions – what they click on, what they’re looking for. But when you add AI to the mix, things change. It’s like you’re designing for two – the user and the AI. The AI learns from everything the user does, so it needs enough input to actually be useful, but not so much that it overwhelms the user.
With the current hype, everyone is cramming in AI features, but you’ve got to think about the natural way for the user to interact with AI. In the case of e-commerce, the shopper cares about finding an affordable and likable item, they don’t want to “prompt the AI”.
2. In your experience, what’s the most exciting UX trend in the AI-driven e-commerce space?
I’d say micro-interactions are where things are really moving forward. Micro-interactions are the small, almost unnoticed actions that users take – like pausing on multiple products during a scroll that look similar in some aspect, or even scrolling back. They let the AI work in the background, learning the user’s preferences without needing them to do anything special.
In the pre-AI world, recommendations were clunky at best: “You bought a cheese knife? Here’s 10 more cheese knives!” Now, micro-interactions let users shop as usual, while AI quietly works in the background to make the store feel tailored to them. It’s not just personalization – it’s seamless, invisible assistance that feels like magic.
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3. What do you think makes the user experience at Miros stand out from other AI platforms?
Our focus on Wordless Search is what sets us apart. While others are building AI chatbots, we’ve kept things simpler for the user. We look at the small actions – the clicks, the scrolls – and let the AI figure out what the user is interested in, without them needing to say it directly.
It’s like when you know what someone wants just by watching them. There’s no need for the user to figure out the right words or type in complex search terms. The AI quietly adapts, and the user finds what they need without even realizing the heavy AI processing that happens behind the scenes.
4. What’s the most interesting opportunity you’re currently tackling, and why?
Filtering is an area that’s full of potential. Most online stores have filters, but they’re often clunky and outdated. Users have to struggle with too many options, especially on mobile, where screen space is tight. Once all preferred filters are defined, you end up with 0 items, and then need to go into “debugging mode” to remove some filters. It’s stupid.
I’ll give you one idea, free of charge. What if filters worked as biases, instead of imposing strict exclusions? The prevailing “filter thinking” is that filters should be “hard” – that any matches outside the set filters is a “bug”. But hey, a user looking for “blue” items might well be interested in “navy”, right? By hiding the “navy” item, you harm your conversion rates. Why force the user to multi-select, if a filter could just prioritize “blue” and allow all “blueish” to blend into the results as it makes most sense?
5. On a personal note, what are some of your hobbies outside of work that inspire your creativity as a UX designer?
Walking and running to clear my head, and a lot of ideas come to me while I’m out with my dog. “Boring” routine activities let your mind wander, and you come up with solutions naturally. It’s a natural, organic productivity boost.
Occasionally I also listen to audiobooks when I’m walking – anything from design books to fiction. It’s a good way to keep learning without having to sit at a desk all the time. Recent favorites include: “Ideaflow” by Jeremy Utley and Perry Klebahn (a book about generating a large volume of ideas), and “Mind of the Raven” by Bernd Heinrich (about how amazing ravens are).
And I play a bit of blitz chess too. It’s fast, requires quick thinking, and that spontaneity helps keep my mind sharp.
If you would like to join us, head over to our Careers Page. Didn’t find a suitable role? No worries – fill out the form there and tell us why you’d be a great addition to the team.
