ditto is an AI-powered marketing assistant designed to simplify content creation for small businesses and agencies. As the sole UX designer, my role was to create an intuitive user experience that empowered users to confidently leverage ditto's AI capabilities while maintaining clear, intuitive control over their content.
In this case study, I share how I used user research, iterative design, and progressive onboarding to strike the right balance between automation and user empowerment, ultimately driving greater user trust and engagement.
The Challenge
AI-driven products require a different design mindset compared to traditional software. Users want the efficiency of automation but need transparency and control, especially when the content directly represents their brand.
The primary UX challenges included balancing user trust with AI automation, creating onboarding flows that were intuitive yet meaningful, quickly demonstrating ditto's value, adapting to rapid technological evolution, and smoothly integrating new AI features without adding unnecessary complexity.
Ultimately, the core tension was building enough user trust in AI while preserving a feeling of control over content.
Research & Discovery Process
Competitive Research
I began by studying existing AI-powered tools across multiple industries, identifying successful patterns and gaps related to transparency and user control. This provided critical context for understanding user expectations and market opportunities.
User Interviews
Through interviews with marketing professionals and small business owners, I identified emotional and practical barriers that prevented users from fully embracing AI-generated content. Users valued ease of use, immediate tangible benefits, reassurance that AI understood their unique business needs, and transparency around AI content decisions.
Ongoing Usability Testing
Continuous feedback loops with beta users, including active collaboration with a small business owner, allowed for rapid validation and refinement of design decisions. This ongoing testing helped ensure alignment with real-world user needs and preferences.
UX Approach & Design Solutions
Transparent Interaction Design
To foster trust, I developed a content preview panel where users could easily review, edit, and regenerate AI-generated content. Users felt like partners with AI rather than passive recipients, boosting their confidence and trust.
Progressive Disclosure Strategy
I implemented a guided onboarding flow that introduced features gradually, preventing overwhelm by carefully addressing user anxieties about AI. Each onboarding step focused on small wins, building confidence progressively.
Customized Control Systems
Recognizing each user's need for tailored control, ditto's AI analyzed customer-specific marketing materials to capture their unique brand voice. Users could refine AI-generated content through intuitive pathways, including natural language adjustments, regeneration options, manual editing, and hybrid AI-human workflows.
Challenges & Iterations in Detail
Adapting to Rapid AI Evolution
The rapid pace of AI advancements meant the UX design needed flexibility. My solution was a modular design system with simple, adaptable interaction patterns that could scale and evolve smoothly, enabling efficient integration of new AI features without extensive redesigns.
Balancing AI Sophistication and User Understanding
Usability testing showed the importance of balancing transparency about AI decision-making without creating cognitive overload. The final approach provided contextual transparency, showing the "why" behind AI suggestions progressively, based on user interaction.
Maintaining Flexibility for Future Development
I created pattern-based, modular design components and consistent interaction principles to maintain UX flexibility. This strategic approach enabled rapid iteration and integration of future AI advancements without disrupting established user workflows.
Results and Impact
User Adoption and Trust
The redesigned experience significantly improved user trust. Usability tests confirmed that users readily adopted AI-generated content features, confidently letting ditto handle substantial portions of their marketing content.
Enhanced User Experience
Users consistently described the app as intuitive and empowering, comfortably relying on AI suggestions while maintaining clear agency and control over their content.
Positive Business Impact
The thoughtful UX design facilitated quicker feature development and increased market competitiveness. A flexible design system accelerated ditto’s agility in responding to new AI advancements, enhancing overall business value.
Accessibility & Inclusion
Accessibility was integrated throughout the design process. All visual designs were rigorously tested for compliance with WCAG standards, ensuring usability across diverse user groups. Additionally, development began on voice interaction capabilities to further enhance inclusive and intuitive interactions.
Key Learnings
Trust Comes Through Transparency
Trust in AI builds through transparency and user control, rather than flawless output alone. Demonstrating AI reasoning and offering multiple refinement paths significantly enhanced user acceptance.
Progressive Disclosure Reduces Complexity
Gradually introducing features significantly reduced cognitive load and improved user confidence. Each onboarding step specifically addressed user anxieties, building toward deeper AI engagement.
Flexibility Drives Innovation
Flexible UX design solutions enabled rapid, cost-effective adaptation to new AI technologies, benefitting both users and business agility.
User Control is Crucial
Providing multiple pathways for user intervention and customization was essential. Users needed reliable control mechanisms to confidently embrace AI automation.
Conclusion
By carefully balancing automation, simplicity, and control, ditto successfully became a trusted AI marketing assistant. The project affirmed that great AI UX design augments human judgment, combining intelligent automation with the irreplaceable value of user creativity and brand expertise.
