# Notion AI

Source: https://useronboarding.ai/companies/notion-ai

- Category: Onboarding for AI products
- Type: Productivity
- Product: https://www.notion.com/product/ai

No separate AI onboarding. AI opens inside the page the user is editing, with starter prompts grouped by job (write, edit, summarize). Picking one seeds a focused follow-up, and the output lands in the document.

## Notes

- AI UX Playground: 'There is no empty chat screen'; starters such as 'Write meeting agenda' appear in the editor where the cursor already is.
- The Notion AI panel headline is 'How can I help you today?' above a 'Get started' row of one-click starters.
- Starters are grouped by job (write, edit, summarize) so users 'browse by intent, not by prompt engineering skill'.
- Selecting 'Write meeting agenda' opens a tighter AI surface seeded with the starter and inserts the output into the page instead of a side thread.
- Critique from the teardown: first-time users may not know AI exists until they invoke it, and the selection scope (block vs page) is implicit.
- Designer Ryo Lu explains that Notion AI uses context to "get you closer to the AI tools you need". On a new page, Space for AI puts drafting first (brainstorm, blog post, outline). On a page with content, it puts Continue writing, Summarize and Find action items first. On selected text, it shows edit tools with a before/after comparison (Notion Blog, 2023-09-21).
- The design mixes pre-packaged prompts with free text, the way templates work, so new users get an easy start and can still "prompt AI for anything in plain language" (Notion Blog, design thinking).
- CEO Ivan Zhao lists the launch decisions: Space instead of the existing / command as the entry point, an interactive writing UI instead of the forms other AI tools used, and pre-packaged prompts balanced with custom input. 'Improve writing' became the most-used action (Notion Blog, behind the scenes, 2023-11-30).

## Patterns

in-context activation, categorized prompt starters, no wizard, output inserted in place, context-aware prompt presets, keyboard entry point, inline AI instead of tour

## Screens

- ![Notion AI 'How can I help you today?' with Get started prompt starters](https://useronboarding.ai/images/notion-ai-1.jpg) Notion AI 'How can I help you today?' with Get started prompt starters (source: https://aiuxplayground.com/teardowns/notion/onboarding)
- ![After 'Write meeting agenda': seeded follow-up that creates a Meeting agenda page](https://useronboarding.ai/images/notion-ai-2.jpg) After 'Write meeting agenda': seeded follow-up that creates a Meeting agenda page (source: https://aiuxplayground.com/teardowns/notion/onboarding)

## Articles

- [The design thinking behind Notion AI](https://www.notion.com/blog/the-design-thinking-behind-notion-ai): Notion Blog (Ryo Lu, Product & Design) (by the product team)
- [The crucial moments and decisions leading up to the launch of Notion AI](https://www.notion.com/blog/behind-the-scenes-notion-ai): Notion Blog (Ivan Zhao, CEO) (by the product team)
- [Notion AI onboarding UX: prompt starters & first value](https://aiuxplayground.com/teardowns/notion/onboarding): AI UX Playground
- [How to Design AI Onboarding & First-Value UX](https://aiuxplayground.com/guides/how-to-design-ai-onboarding/): AI UX Playground

## Cited in

- [How do products solve the blank prompt box?](https://useronboarding.ai/questions#blank-box)
- [Do product tours still work?](https://useronboarding.ai/questions#tours)