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In-context explanation

As explained in The Art of AI Product Development

An in-context explanation is information presented during or immediately before an interaction or output to clarify its cause and meaning.

When an AI produces a result, users may need help understanding what happened. An in-context explanation appears during or immediately before the interaction or output, helping users connect cause and effect while the experience is fresh. section 10.2.2

Choose how prominent the explanation needs to be. A required window ensures users encounter it, but makes them dismiss it before seeing the output. For less intrusive guidance, use progressive disclosure: keep explanations available through tooltips or popups without crowding the interface. section 10.2.2

Figure 10.16 For data visualizations and predictive AI features, use interactive elements such as tooltips to explain scores and values.
A screenshot of a graph

AI-generated content may be incorrect.

Tooltips can explain scores and values directly within data visualizations and predictive AI features. section 10.2.2

How The Art of AI Product Development covers it

How deep it goes
Describes timing and compares required windows with on-demand tooltips and popups, without specifying implementation steps.
Examples
Contrasts a required window dismissed before viewing an AI output with tooltips explaining predictive scores and visualization values.
What you can do after
Practice/perform it by choosing between prominent explanations and on-demand guidance for an AI interaction.
How it connects
Links in-context explanation to progressive disclosure, onboarding, documentation, and everboarding.

This explainer was generated by Manning's knowledge graph from the text of The Art of AI Product Development. The section links point to the parts of the book it draws on.