Beyond the Text Field: Louise Macfadyen, Author of Designing AI Interfaces

Beyond the Text Field: Louise Macfadyen, Author of Designing AI Interfaces

From Design Notes by Liam Spradlin

February 17, 2026 · 40 min · Season 3 · Episode 12

About this episode

Liam Spradlin interviews Louise Macfadyen about her upcoming book on designing AI interfaces and the implications of AI in design.

This episode, I got to sit down with my friend, podcast cohost on Away from Keyboard , and former coworker Louise Macfadyen as she prepares to launch her new book Designing AI Interfaces with Oreilly this Spring. We had a lot to talk about, from managing the conceptual distance between what AI actually does and what people imagine it can do, to the new skills designers, engineers, and PMs need to work with models, the potential harms of new technology, and some of the patterns designers can use to keep ethics and safety in the loop. Designing AI Interfaces is available from O'Reilly Media April 21st, 2026.

People in this episode

Host: Liam Spradlin

Guest: Louise Macfadyen

Topics covered

  • AI interfaces
  • design ethics
  • technology skills
  • user perception
  • safety in design

Keywords

  • AI
  • design
  • interfaces
  • ethics
  • technology
  • skills
  • safety
  • user experience

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: O'Reilly Media

Books & works: Designing AI Interfaces

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