Thoughts about the user experience

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Hi, all.

I'm excited about the future of AI in WordPress. Thanks to everyone who contributed!

I wanted to share my experience when attempting to set up and use the new AI tools. Here's a video: https://www.loom.com/share/8a7b02dc247f4ce0aeb5187f4675162f

I ran into a number of problems that would frustrate typical WordPress users and cause them to bail. I don't think everyone who wants to set up AI in WordPress will have a technical background or be able to navigate the current setup process.

Someone recommended that I write out the topics discussed, so here you go:

Menu Navigation and Naming

• The AI settings are hidden away under the "Tools" menu and labeled "Connectors" rather than having a clear "AI" designation until the "AI" plugin is installed. This naming convention masks the functionality and feels overly complicated to find. I get that the Connectors area could be for more than just AI, so maybe call it Connectors & AI? I don't know. It just feels like telling someone to go to the dairy section of the grocery store to find the pork chops.

Plugin Bloat

• The AI capabilities are packaged as separate plugins instead of being native to the core platform. While this may technically be the best approach, it contributes to plugin bloat, which is a frequent source of concern and frustration for clients managing sites. Perhaps after the plugins are more mature, they could be bundled with core?

The API Key Hurdle

• Users are required to manually generate and input an API key. An automatic OAuth login integration (or something similar) would be a significantly better and smoother alternative.
• The link to generate the key opens in a new tab without providing any step-by-step instructions or help documentation.
• This step is far too technical for the average layman and acts as a major barrier to entry.

Confusing Onboarding Sequence

• The platform does not clarify the correct order of operations for setting up the tools.
• The user had to establish an API connection and then manually activate a second AI plugin on top of the first to gain access to the features, which aren't available until manually activating them.

Hidden Functionality Toggles

• After installing the necessary AI plugins, the AI options remained entirely grayed out and unusable without explanation.
• To actually use the tools, the user has to spot a tiny "Enable AI" toggle switch hidden in the top right-hand corner of the screen, then manually enable the AI tools they want to use.

Quota Errors and Hidden Billing

• The platform fails to clearly explain that users must independently navigate to Google to set up a billing account to cover API usage.
• Attempting to generate a simple AI image or anything other than a simple text replacement immediately triggered a "quota exceeded" error.
• This forces users to pay unknown amounts for AI tasks that they can currently do for free outside of WordPress.

Inaccessible Documentation

• The available "documentation" is highly technical. It consists primarily of markdown files detailing the codebase, which provides no practical troubleshooting help for everyday users.
• It's unclear what you can actually do with the AI integration from within WordPress itself.