design

Can AI Agents Become the Interface?

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[This post is based on Marit Pasterkamp‘s Information Science Master thesis]

Recent advances in AI have led many software companies to add AI features to their products. But what happens when AI is no longer just a feature and becomes the primary interface? In her Master Information Science thesis at VU Amsterdam, Marit Pasterkamp explored this question in the context of marketing automation. Working with Spotler, she designed and evaluated an AI Agent that allows users to create marketing customer journeys through natural language instead of manually building workflows.

Using a user-centered design approach, she developed a functional prototype and tested it with both experienced and inexperienced users. The findings showed that both groups saw value in the AI Agent, but for different reasons. Experienced users appreciated it most for creating complex journeys quickly, while novice users benefited from the lower learning curve and intuitive conversational interface.

Screenshot of the AI Agent prototype showing the two-column editor, with on the left the conversational window and on the right the visual flow canvas.

A key finding was that trust differs between user groups. Experienced users tended to verify AI-generated output before accepting it, while inexperienced users often trusted the AI and instead doubted their own knowledge.

The research concludes that AI Agents can function as effective interfaces for journey creation, but work best in a hybrid approach that combines AI-generated output with opportunities for manual editing and validation. Transparency, usability, and user control remain essential for successful adoption.

Reference

Pasterkamp, M. (2026). Maintaining Usability and Trust: The Effective Design of an AI Agent-driven Interface for Customer Journey Automation in the Marketing Technology Domain. Master’s Thesis, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam

MaritPasterkamp_2678404_MasterThesis_AIAgent-1Download

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A Mobile App for Sign Language Learning in Sub-Saharan Africa

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[This post by Julia Salomons describes her Computer Science Master project]

‘Communication is key’ a phrase known worldwide, it is how people exchange ideas, knowledge, feelings, thoughts and much more.  Communication between people comes in all different forms: verbal, visual or electronic to name a few. For many choosing which form of communication they wish to communicate in is an option. However, when someone suffers from hearing loss they tend to lose the option to choose.

Two starting screens of the final application
Two starting screens of the final application

Depending where you are in the world, the support and care that is available to those who are deaf can vary greatly. In developing regions such as Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) the support and care varies within the region, from acceptance to rejection. Where on one end of the spectrum, acceptance, individuals are allowed to express themselves how they want whereas on the other end individuals are trapped in their environment. Where some cases they fear for their lives.

The problem that was uncovered during our research showed us that there was a lack of communication between hearing and deaf individuals. Deaf individuals who were lucky enough to attend school or gain support from the government or organisations, learned how to communicate through sign language. However, even with the ability to communicate the communication with other deaf individuals is where the communication stops, which increases the gap between deaf and hearing individuals. This project focused on decreasing that gap, by creating an educational mobile application, Learn to Sign, which would assist hearing individuals learn sign language.

To get a good look at the application, watch a screencast of the application on Youtube or visit the project site at https://learn2signsite.wordpress.com/, where you can download the application. You can also download the thesis itself here.

https://youtu.be/AhVtFPviYnA

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