The first Muse UI element ever designed was the agent status pill

alexandr_wang · x · 2026-09-23

Alex Cornell recounts that the very first Muse mock designed the top-of-screen 'status' pill — a small UI element answering 'what is my agent doing right now?' — which survived months of revisions. Presenting status as a messaging pattern was controversial early on, as most AI apps had settled on chain-of-thought at the bottom of threads. Alexandr Wang credits Cornell for the design details and memes.

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