Designing the “Magic” AI Can’t Replicate. (Yet)

The traumatizing alarm that woke me up this morning, a stop request button in the tram which I managed to push without zoning out, the blinking cursor that’s guiding me while I type this and the satisfying sound and feel when I crack open a cold beer after all that.

We live in a world filled with these small moments that we take for granted yet play a huge role in how we interact and use those objects and tools, whether they are digital or physical. We call them Micro-Interactions.

The soul and the “Aha!” moment

I’ve spent a lot of time lately “vibe coding” different products. I’ve built native mobile apps, PWAs, and web apps using the latest models that I can get my hands on. These tools are incredible at getting things to work. They can get a project moving fast.

But there is a problem. While the code works and the layout is clean, it almost always lacks a soul. It misses that “Aha!” moment where the product stops feeling like a piece of software and starts feeling like an experience. AI is great at building the bones of an app. It can handle the static structures and standard patterns, but it doesn’t understand the intent behind a movement or the emotional weight of a response.

It’s likely only a matter of time before it catches up, but until then, defining that intentional behavior is what keeps a designer relevant. Even when AI eventually learns to animate, our job will shift from just creating those moments to deciding why they should exist in the first place.

Lessons from the Valley

In the physical world, we recognize quality through our senses. Think about the heavy thud when you close the door of a well-made car or the precise click when you put the cap back on a fountain pen. You don’t need a manual to tell you that those objects are high quality, because the interaction tells you everything you need to know.

(Source: /r/StardewValley)

We see this same logic in games like Stardew Valley. On paper, it is a farming simulator. But the reason it feels so good is the juice. When you pull a parsnip from the ground, there is a specific pop sound and a tiny animation of the vegetable jumping into your hands. It has nothing to do with the main quest, but it makes the digital world feel tangible and alive.

(Source: Gadget Hacks)

Apple does this too. When you press the physical volume button on an iPhone, the edge of the screen nudges inward right where your finger is. This tiny digital ripple acknowledges your physical touch. It is a small detail that most people don’t consciously see, but their brain feels it. It connects the glass screen to a real experience.

“Be grateful it even exists”

In Mongolia, we have a cultural mindset summed up as “Байгаа нь их юм” (Be grateful it even exists). We are an incredibly resilient people. We adapt to harsh winters, difficult infrastructure, and broken tools. We are masters of “making do.”

The only app we had for tracking local buses. We had to adapt to its problematic interface and interaction patterns. (Source: Gogo.mn / UB Smart Bus)

But I’ve realized this resilience can be a trap in product design. Because humans are so good at adapting to clunky interfaces, we stop demanding better ones. We settle for products that “just work,” forgetting that we deserve products that are a joy to use.

The mechanics of the “feel”

To design these moments effectively, it helps to look at the four parts that make them work. This framework was introduced by Dan Saffer in his book “Microinteractions” (2013), which breaks it down into a clear structure:

Source: Microinteractions - Dan Saffer (2013)

Triggers: This is the spark. It is a tap, a long press, or a swipe. Simply put, the moment the user decides to act.

Rules: These are the invisible instructions. They define the logic. If the switch is On, it stays on until the trigger happens again.

Feedback: This is the response. This could be the color change, the clicking sound, or the vibration. In other words, the app’s way of saying it heard you.

Loops and Modes: This is the behavior over time. A loop might be a notification light that pulses until you check it. A mode might be a switch that turns off automatically after four hours.

Prototyping as an ideation tool

I know a lot of designers in the field will disagree with me here. The standard advice is to stay in low-fidelity as long as possible. But for me, prototyping in high fidelity early is the best way to put the vision of the product on the table.

Dynamic Island & Live Activity prototypes I worked on during my time at Mezorn.

As a visual learner, I use prototyping to ideate faster. You can’t truly test a micro-interaction on a static whiteboard. You have to feel the timing and the weight of the motion to know if it works. During a client meeting or a design review, I try to sketch or make a quick high-fidelity prototype based on the goal. Showing someone how a product feels for five minutes is usually more effective than hours of talking or staring at hundreds of sticky notes. It keeps the team aligned on the actual goal.

Ambiguity is the most expensive part of development. If you don’t show the timing, the easing, and the exact feedback of a micro-interaction, you are essentially paying a developer to guess what you wanted.

Motion is the blueprint

Moving to hi-fi early or even parallelly eliminates the confusion that usually stalls a handoff, while providing a concrete blueprint for the developers so they can focus on building instead of guessing what we meant. Ambiguity is the most expensive part of development. If you don’t show the timing, the easing, and the exact feedback of a micro-interaction, you are essentially paying a developer to guess what you wanted.

Uber has a fantastic documentation on how they use motion to bring their product to life. (Source: Uber: Base Design System)

When you provide a high-fidelity prototype that includes the motion logic, you aren’t just handing off a design. You are handing off a specification. You are making sure that the click of your digital button feels as deliberate and satisfying as the stop button on the tram or the snap of a beer tab.

We can use AI to handle the repetitive parts of the workflow, but we should use that saved time to focus on the magic. If it doesn’t feel right in your prototype, it will never feel right in the hands of your user. Stop just making pictures and start building the vision.

Here’s to building products with more soul.