No UX is the best UX
The speaker reflects on the paradox of building beautiful UX while knowing that 'no UX is the best UX.' Drawing on a quote from Ramp's CTO and an anecdote from their lead investor, they argue that the future of software is agent-driven, where users won't need to interact with interfaces at all.
Summary
The speaker opens by citing a guiding philosophy from the CTO of Ramp: 'no UX is the best UX.' Despite holding this belief, they invested enormous effort into crafting a polished user experience, including a highly praised onboarding flow that Lenny (presumably a well-known figure in the product community) called the best on the internet. The speaker describes the painstaking work that went into it — multiple redesigns, animated bouncing logos, and iterative design changes — all while knowing that the paradigm might soon be irrelevant.
The speaker also references an article they wrote called 'iOS App Learnings Part One,' which captured their dedication to the craft of UX design. However, the central tension of their talk is illustrated through an anecdote about their lead investor, Sam Lessin, who wrote them a $1.5 million check but told the speaker he no longer wanted to use their software — not because of any flaw, but because he simply didn't want to use anyone's software anymore. The speaker reacted with frustration but ultimately accepted the signal.
In response to this shift, the team launched an API, which is now being used in an 'open claw' context, pointing toward an agent-driven future where users interact through programmatic or AI interfaces rather than traditional UI. The speaker concludes that we are at an inflection point where even beautiful, well-crafted interfaces are being superseded by a world where nobody wants to press buttons anymore.
Key Insights
- The speaker cites Ramp's CTO's philosophy — 'no UX is the best UX' — as a guiding principle their team operated under even while building what was praised as the best onboarding on the internet.
- The speaker describes pouring enormous effort into onboarding UX, including multiple redesigns and animated bouncing logos, all while consciously aware that agents would eventually make such interfaces unnecessary.
- Lead investor Sam Lessin, who wrote a $1.5 million check, told the speaker he no longer wanted to use their software — not due to dissatisfaction, but because he didn't want to use anyone's software, signaling a broader shift away from UI-based interaction.
- The speaker frames the release of their API and its use in an 'open claw' context as a direct response to the agent-driven future, where programmatic access replaces button-pressing.
- The speaker argues that we are hitting an inflection point where even beautiful, well-crafted UX is becoming obsolete, as users increasingly prefer not to interact with software interfaces at all.
Topics
Transcript
[0:00] There's this quote from the CTO of Ramp that has been one of our leading points, which is no UX is the best UX. And we worked really hard on our UX and made it beautiful while knowing the entire time that no UX is the best UX. And I think that everybody should try to do the same. Thanks, you. I really appreciate it. I was well, Lenny tweeted we have the best onboarding on the internet. The amount of blood, sweat, and tears that went into that. Redesigns, the bouncing logos, you know, trying it multiple times, changing the design of it where the different logos bounce, everything. [0:32] So many redesigns and so much fun. I…
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