Designing Agentive Technology: AI for Human Support

How do we design AI that doesn't just respond to commands, but actively works in the background to make our lives easier? Traditional user interfaces require constant user input, but agentive technology represents a shift toward software that acts independently on a user's behalf. This text-only course guides you through the foundational principles of agentive design, helping you transition from building reactive tools to crafting proactive, autonomous AI solutions that prioritize human support. By reading through clear explanations and real-world design scenarios, you will learn how to structure AI systems that act as reliable digital agents. You will explore how to balance automation with user control, ensuring that your designs remain ethical, trustworthy, and helpful. What you'll learn: - Understand the core concepts of agentive design and how it differs from traditional assistive technology - Map user goals to autonomous agent behaviors using modern human-in-the-loop design patterns - Configure trust-building mechanisms that keep users informed without causing alert fatigue - Design ethical guardrails and safety protocols for background AI decisions - Apply foundational prompt engineering and agentic workflows to orchestrate multi-step tasks - Evaluate agentive systems using user-centric metrics and feedback loops The course begins with essential definitions and UX principles before guiding you through step-by-step written scenarios, design frameworks, and practical evaluation methods. This course is designed for UX designers, product managers, and software developers who are new to AI design, and no prior programming experience is required. Start reading today to master the next generation of proactive digital experiences.