06.23.2025: Smarter Matching, Simpler UX, and Predictive Questions Come Online

Jun 24

Yesterday was all about connecting more dots—between what people want to ask, what the assistant can answer, and how to bridge that gap through better structure, interface, and prompts.

AutonomousMatt moved one step closer to being not just reactive, but inviting—able to suggest, guide, and even anticipate user needs.

Here’s what happened.

🧠 Predictive & Predefined Questions: New UX Added

One of the biggest experience upgrades so far launched quietly yesterday: predefined questions now appear as suggestions beneath the prompt input.

This helps first-time visitors know where to start, and gives returning users new angles to explore. It’s a subtle but powerful shift from “type something” to “here’s what the archive is great at answering.”

Examples now live:

What was Jarman trying to say with Blue?
Why do games keep us coming back?
What does it feel like to leave a place forever?
How does grief show up in film?

These questions are:

Tied directly to specific archive files
Tuned to provoke thoughtful, GPT-powered answers
Fully editable by the user after selection

The goal: make the assistant feel immediately useful—even before you type.

This opens up future possibilities like:

Curated "topic packs" (e.g. Product Strategy, Queer Cinema, Grief in Games)
Rotating seasonal questions (e.g. What does summer mean in cinema?)
Personalized suggestions based on prior prompts (in a future with memory)

🗺️ Keyword Map: Cleaned, Grouped, Clarified

In parallel with the UX updates, the keyword routing system got a deep cleanup:

Redundant mappings removed to avoid multiple files matching loosely
Clustered concepts into clearer groups:
- film_grief, film_nostalgia, film_identity
- gaming_addiction, gaming_behavior
- personal_migration, story_trauma, product_strategy
Improved semantic flexibility so that users don’t need to guess exact keywords

Now, prompts like:

“Why does Stalker feel so dreamlike?”
“Why do I keep grinding in Destiny?”
“What’s the point of remembering if it hurts?”

All correctly route to insightful, grounded answers drawn from the archive.

🔧 Front-End Logic and Routing Improvements

A series of under-the-hood fixes were made yesterday to strengthen the system:

Fixed GPT routing logic for several files that weren’t being triggered
Improved fallback behavior when no keyword is matched (now fails gracefully)
Cleaned up console errors related to undefined route matches
Smoothed the scroll and input animation for a better mobile UX

Nothing flashy here—just sanding off the rough edges to keep the interaction loop frictionless.

🧱 Archive Index: Structuring for Discovery

Work continued on the internal master index of the archive. It now includes:

Filename
Format (film, story, essay, etc.)
Summary + key insight
Source URL
Related concepts
GPT behavior notes (e.g. use cautious tone, reflective POV, etc.)

This will feed directly into:

Smart filtering
Archive browser
Query scoring
Predictive search

Right now it’s invisible. But soon, it will power the next-generation interface.

📐 UX Philosophy: Ask Less, Offer More

The predefined question system reflects a larger design decision:

Don’t just build a mirror. Build a compass.

Let the assistant show people where to start, what to ask, and what the archive is already equipped to answer—without requiring perfect phrasing or knowledge of what's inside.

This shifts the UX from input/output to discovery/response—a subtle but essential leap.