This article is a response to: Matt Slotnick’s article, Context Rules Everything Around Me: The Future Of Enterprise Applications
There’s a growing assumption that if we just get context right (richer data, better models, more capable agents) then the user experience problems solve themselves. That logic overlooks a key reality: context for systems is not the same as context for people.
When enterprise AI treats context as something to be inferred and acted upon rather than made understandable, it breaks a litany of fundamental UX principles: visibility of system status, user control, consistency, and recognition over recall. When systems become more agentic, users are trying to maintain a mental model WHILE evaluating outcomes. Users need to know what’s happening, why it’s happening, and when they can step in. Abstraction without explanation hides cause and effect, increases cognitive load, and erodes predictability. That “simplification” comes at a real cost: loss of trust, loss of control, and eventually loss of confidence in the system itself. Enterprise value doesn’t come from owning better data models alone. It comes from helping humans do complex work with confidence.
If context really is the future, then UX has to be central to that conversation. The hype that UI no longer matters is an oversell of AI functionality. As we continue to over inflate the focus on architecture alone, we are risking building incredibly sophisticated systems that feel opaque, unpredictable, and ultimately untrustworthy to the people expected to rely on them every day.
🚨Notice who’s shaping the AI conversation the most: those who financially benefit from its acceleration. Financial incentives influence emphasis, priorities, and optimism. We need voices that represent users, not just markets.🚨
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Emily Mancini 