Articles

Emma Cionca

Emma Cionca is a Research Assistant with Nielsen Norman Group, based in Raleigh, North Carolina. She is pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Informatics with a concentration in User Experience Design from the University of Texas at Austin’s School of Information.

Articles and Videos

  • Alt Text: What to Write

    Images are decorative, functional, or informative. Skip alt text for decorative. Describe the action for functional. Convey the message for informative.

  • Alt Text: Not Always Needed

    Write alt text that communicates an image's purpose without repeating page content. Focus on meaning rather than visual description.

  • Prompt Structure in Conversations with Generative AI

    Most prompts contain a combination of the following components: request, framing context, format specification, and one or more references to previous answers or external sources. There are also 3 types of unconventional prompts that do not follow this structure: "Can you do X," "Give me more," and filler prompts.

  • The 6 Types of Conversations with Generative AI

    When interacting with generative-AI bots, users engage in six types of conversations, depending on their skill levels and their information needs. Interfaces for UI bots should support and accommodate this diversity of conversation styles.

  • ChatGPT, Bard, or Bing Chat? Differences Among 3 Generative-AI Bots

    Participants rated Bing Chat as less helpful and trustworthy than ChatGPT or Bard. These results can be attributed to Bing’s richer yet imperfect UI and to its poorer information aggregation.

  • Information Foraging with Generative AI: A Study of 3 Chatbots

    In a study of ChatGPT, Bard, and Bing Chat, users found these tools helpful and trustworthy. They expected these AI chatbots to aggregate information in a concise and specific manner, while fully considering contextual cues.