Usable but Conventional: An Empirical Study on the UX of AI-Generated Interface Prototypes

TL;DR

This study empirically evaluates user experience of AI-generated interface prototypes, finding they are functional but lack originality, with positive pragmatic and mixed hedonic assessments.

Contribution

It provides empirical insights into UX of AI-generated prototypes, highlighting strengths in usability and limitations in originality and innovation.

Findings

AI prototypes are rated positively on usability and efficiency.

Users perceive AI prototypes as lacking originality and innovation.

GenAI tends to reinforce visual and structural patterns in prototypes.

Abstract

This paper investigates User Experience (UX) with prototypes generated by Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) tools. An empirical survey with 92 participants evaluated AI-generated and human-created prototypes without prior identification of authorship. We measured UX using the UEQ-S, covering pragmatic and hedonic dimensions. Results indicate positive evaluations in pragmatic aspects, such as usability and efficiency, and neutral or negative evaluations in hedonic aspects, including originality and innovation. We concluded that GenAI can produce functional interfaces but tends to reinforce visual and structural patterns that affect perceptions of originality.