Designing exceptional user experiences is not just about creating something aesthetically pleasing; it’s about crafting a journey that is functional, visually engaging, and faithful to the underlying data. In this article, we’ll take you through our journey to create a truly exceptional design, and highlight the key lessons we learned along the way.

The Need for More: Going Beyond the Norm

We realized that to create truly breathtaking design, we had to go beyond the norm. We didn’t want to be just another AI that met high benchmarks; we wanted to bring aesthetics to the world and make a lasting visual impact. Some of our favorite design elements included:

• Italian italics paired with bold type
• Bento-style layouts that are modular and balanced
• Using background overlays on cover images
• Glassmorphism style
• Uses Tailwind CSS

These design elements had a lasting visual impact, but we quickly realized that recognizing beautiful design is only half the battle.

The Evaluation Document: Defining What’s “bland”

We created an “Bland Design Evaluation” document to ensure everyone on the team knew what constituted bad design. We went through hundreds of bad examples, highlighting what went wrong and discussing them with the team. It was an exhausting, repetitive process, but it eventually paid off. The goal was simple: we needed to make sure everyone on the team knew what bland design looked like, so we could collectively avoid it.

Aesthetics Aren’t Enough: Merging Functionality and Design

While we were making strides on the design front, we encountered another challenge: long context. Because deep research’s result is often very long, it became clear that incorporating this into our design could severely impact the visual appeal. To solve this problem, we merged aesthetics and functionality. We used a grid layout and navigation to break up the content and make it more digestible.

The Impossible Triangle: Aesthetics, Interaction, and Faithfulness

This was the point where we realized the “impossible triangle” in design: aesthetics, interaction layout, and faithfulness. It’s like trying to get someone to be meticulous, creative, and smart all at once — something always feels off. But over time, we found a balance through continuous iteration. My daily routine was filled with testing and tweaking. Every small breakthrough felt like a victory, and I learned the importance of documentation. By saving every experiment, I could revisit ideas and make improvements that eventually led to success.

The Role of Faithfulness: The Most Tricky Aspect

Faithfulness (minimize hallucinations) was one of the most difficult aspects of our project. It was messy, it was dirty, but it was also essential. The issue of staying true to the original data, while keeping everything visually appealing, demanded a lot of our time and attention. We realized we needed to bring in external help, so we integrated an AI Judge. This AI tool helped evaluate design decisions that would traditionally be handled by humans. It allowed us to speed up the process and maintain accuracy in the evaluation.

Improving User Experience for Deep Research Audiences

Aside from aesthetics, we also had to focus on the user experience — particularly for deep research users. We introduced a grid layout and navigation, and used images, charts, and diagrams to make the content more digestible. These visual elements really helped make the content more digestible, and our experiment names became longer and more descriptive.

The Search for Interactivity: Adding JS Animations

After a few rounds of user testing, we realized there was a sense of static-ness in our designs. People wanted more interactivity. So, we began experimenting with subtle JS animations. These animations weren’t meant to be flashy or distracting; instead, they served to guide the user’s experience.

The Beauty of Teamwork

Throughout this entire process, I couldn’t have done it alone. I am passionate about aesthetics and design architecture, but when it comes to faithfulness evaluation, I rely heavily on my teammates. Faithfulness is a complicated concept to measure, and I’m glad that my colleagues helped with that aspect. This collaborative effort truly allowed us to tackle the most challenging aspects of our project. In the end, we realized that teamwork is the real secret to success. The ability to collaborate, share ideas, and get different perspectives was what made our final design and functionality work so well. We each brought something different to the table, and together, we created something that was greater than the sum of its parts.

Key Lessons Learned

Never Settle for Normal: Design is an evolving process. What may seem great at first will soon start to feel ordinary. Constantly push yourself and your team to define what exceptional design looks like and strive to surpass those standards. Align Your Team Around a Common Vision: Having great taste in design is only one part of the equation. Getting everyone on the same page and ensuring that your team shares a common aesthetic vision is crucial. The “Ugly Evaluation” document became our tool for alignment, ensuring we all agreed on what constituted bad design. Master the Impossible Triangle: Balancing aesthetics, interactivity, and faithfulness is a constant challenge. It’s the impossible triangle of design, and finding the sweet spot takes time, patience, and lots of testing. But when you get it right, the results are worth the effort. Iterate, Test, Repeat: The key to finding the right balance is iteration. Experiment, document your process, and refine continuously. Sometimes it’s the smallest adjustments that make the biggest impact. Teamwork Makes the Dream Work: No matter how good you are at design or architecture, it’s impossible to create something truly outstanding without help. Trust your team, collaborate openly, and combine your skills to solve the toughest challenges together.

Final Thoughts

In the end, our project wasn’t just about creating something aesthetically pleasing. It was about crafting an experience that was functional, visually engaging, and faithful to the underlying data. As we pushed the boundaries of what was possible, we learned that the journey to perfection is an iterative one. It’s about constantly questioning, refining, and evolving until everything finally falls into place. As with all creative endeavors, the process was painful at times — filled with frustration, setbacks, and long hours. But when it all came together, the sense of accomplishment was unparalleled. We hope that by sharing these lessons, others can avoid some of the pitfalls we encountered and create designs that are truly exceptional. Ultimately, our goal is to continue breaking the aesthetic limits, one iteration at a time.