ULTRAUser-Friendly and Trustworthy AI, home (English)
Ultra Patterns

NL, NederlandsEN, English

UltraUser-Friendly and Trustworthy AI

AI applications your users understand and trust

ULTRA researches, together with Flemish companies, how to design such applications (UX for AI) and how to use AI tools responsibly in your own design process (AI for UX).

Mail us to joinSee the events

A project of Odisee, KU Leuven and Artevelde University of Applied Sciences (Arteveldehogeschool), with the support of VLAIO.

For
Flemish SMEs Other organisations that build or buy AI applications can take part too.
For everyone
Free Ultra Patterns, the newsletter and the meetups cost nothing.
Membership
From €500 The project is in its second year, so joining now costs half the normal price. Membership runs until 30 September 2027.
Language
English This page, Ultra Patterns and the meetups are in English. The rest of the site and the newsletter are in Dutch.

The ULTRA design library

Ultra Patterns

The library holds design patterns for AI interfaces, such as chat assistants, dashboards with AI insights and apps that adapt. Each pattern shows what to build and the words on screen.

A label tells you how much evidence is behind each pattern, from a pattern that is only on the list to a comparative test with users.
  1. On the list
  2. Seen in a case
  3. Tested (pilot)
  4. Tested

Free to use and online since 23 October 2026. Content CC BY 4.0, code MIT.

Open Ultra Patterns

Upcoming events

The meetups are free and open to anyone working on AI and UX. More meetups follow in 2027. We announce them in the newsletter (in Dutch) and on UCE's LinkedIn page.

  1. Co-design sessions with the KU Leuven evaluation framework

    Running now

    , By appointment

    Members
    Book a session

    Free for members

    Evaluate your own AI application with KU Leuven Augment, at your office or in the KU Leuven lab. A session takes two to three hours, with three to five colleagues from different disciplines.

  2. Workshop 3: Build Advanced AI prototyping with generative tools

    Date to be confirmed

    , 13:30–17:00 · Odisee Technologiecampus Gent

    Workshop
    Registration via the newsletter

    €595 excl. VAT per organisation, free for members with Hands-on or Living lab

    Build a working, clickable prototype of your AI interface with generative AI tools. You learn which tool suits which stage and how to keep privacy and security under control. Artevelde University of Applied Sciences leads this workshop.

  3. Workshop 4: Validate User testing AI interfaces

    , 13:30–17:00 · Odisee Technologiecampus Gent

    Workshop
    Registration via the newsletter

    €595 excl. VAT per organisation, free for members with Hands-on or Living lab

    Test your AI interface systematically with test scenarios made for AI products. You combine qualitative and quantitative methods such as eye tracking, questionnaires and interviews. You go home with metrics for your AI product and a list of improvements.

Where and when
All workshops run from 13:30 to 17:00 at Odisee Technologiecampus Gent, Gebroeders De Smetstraat 1, 9000 Gent.
Language
Mail ultra@odisee.be to ask which language a workshop is in.
Bring
Bring your own laptop and, if you can, a use case of your own.

Past events

Past events 6

Slides that are not online are available on request from ultra@odisee.be.

  1. Workshop 2: Design Smart AI interface patterns that build trust

    , 13:30–17:00 · Odisee Technologiecampus Gent

    Workshop

    In this workshop, participants applied AI-specific design patterns to their own use case, from transparency and control to compliance by design. Ultra Patterns went online the same day.

  2. Flanders AI Forum

    , deep dive 15:00–16:15 · Nekkerhal, Mechelen

    External event
    Speakers
    • Thomas Van den Bossche (Odisee)

    ULTRA had a stand and gave the deep dive ‘Prototyping with AI: from idea to working prototype’, building a clickable prototype live from a Flemish business case.

  3. Designing & Evaluating AI Experiences

    , from 18:00 · Odisee Technologiecampus Gent

    Meetup
    Speakers
    • Ivania Donoso-Guzmán (KU Leuven)
    • Thijs Van de Broek (In The Pocket)
    • Vincent Buyssens (Loop Earplugs, Thoughtform)
    Slides on request for Designing & Evaluating AI Experiences

    UX Ghent organised this meetup with Odisee (ULTRA) and In The Pocket. Three talks covered how to design and evaluate AI experiences that people trust.

  4. Workshop 1: Discovery & Strategy AI design sprint for real impact

    , 13:30–17:00 · Odisee Technologiecampus Gent

    Workshop

    The slides and the worked example are for participants only. Mail ultra@odisee.be with any questions.

    Participants worked on their own AI use case with the AI Design Sprint and structured user research, keeping the GDPR and the EU AI Act in view from the start.

  5. AI, Trust & Design: meetup #1

    , from 18:30 · De Hoorn, Leuven

    Meetup
    Speakers
    • Jad Najjar (Eummena)
    • Rutger De Wilde (Odisee)
    • Katrien Verbert (KU Leuven)
    • Henri Jacobs (FORCIT)
    Slides on request for AI, Trust & Design: meetup #1

    We organised the first ULTRA meetup together with Eummena. Four talks from research and practice looked at trust and design in AI products, and the evening ended with networking.

  6. ULTRA kick-off

    , 13:30–16:00 · Odisee Technologiecampus Gent

    Kick-off
    Speakers
    • Davy De Winne (Odisee)
    • Abasin Abdul Khalil (Odisee)
    • Katrien Verbert (KU Leuven)
    • Sander Spek (Arteveldehogeschool)
    Slides on request for ULTRA kick-off

    The project started with this event and the first advisory-group meeting. There were talks on user research, the VAIA case, the AI Media Barometer and human-centred AI.

Four ways to take part

As a member you join the advisory group, which meets twice a year to help steer the project. ULTRA is open to companies, non-profits and professional organisations, with particular attention to SMEs. Each option includes everything in the one before it. Prices are per organisation.

Which option fits you

You want to follow the project closely and be among the first to see its results.
Basic (in Dutch: Basisformule), €500
You choose or use AI tools to design and prototype faster.
Prototyping (in Dutch: Tool Prototyping formule), €1,000
Your team wants hands-on practice in prototyping with AI and testing AI interfaces with users.
Hands-on (in Dutch: Hands-on formule), €1,500
You have an AI product with real users and want to know what to improve. We select the cases after an intake meeting.
Living lab (in Dutch: UX validatie proeftuin), €2,000
What each option includes, with the price per organisation
BasicBasic€500normally €1,000PrototypingProto­typing€1,000normally €2,000Hands-onHands-on€1,500normally €3,000Living labLiving lab€2,000normally €4,000
In every option
Taking part in the project events and the advisory groupIncludedIncludedIncludedIncluded
Visibility and networking opportunitiesIncludedIncludedIncludedIncluded
Ongoing updates on the project resultsIncludedIncludedIncludedIncluded
From Prototyping up
Members-only reports that analyse and compare generative AI tools for prototypingNot includedIncludedIncludedIncluded
What these tools can and cannot do, and how they handle privacyNot includedIncludedIncludedIncluded
Written for the needs of Flemish SMEsNot includedIncludedIncludedIncluded
From Hands-on up
The remaining workshops, Build and Validate, for up to three colleaguesIncludedIncluded
Only in the Living lab
Your own AI product tested with users in the Odisee UX LabNot includedNot includedNot includedIncluded
User tests in a controlled test settingNot includedNot includedNot includedIncluded
Concrete suggestions to improve your productNot includedNot includedNot includedIncluded

Normal prices are for the full term. Basic can normally also be paid per year, at €500.

Without membership

A single workshop
€595 The price excludes VAT and is per organisation, for up to three participants. You receive the invoice after registering.
A concrete question
Free SMEs and non-profits get up to four hours of expert advice through Blikopener (in Dutch).
A larger question
Custom The Odisee UX Lab can test your product as contract research or in a joint VLAIO project.

How to join

  1. Mail us Mail ultra@odisee.be with the subject ‘Join ULTRA’ and a sentence about what you are looking for.
  2. Choose together We choose the right option together. For the Living lab there is an intake meeting first.
  3. Sign the rules You sign the rules of procedure of the advisory group (Reglement van Orde), the standard VLAIO document for TETRA projects. We send it to you to read first.
Mail us to joinAsk about the Odisee UX Lab

Resources

Below are papers and tools from ULTRA and its partners. The full list is on the Kennisbank page (in Dutch).

About ULTRA

ULTRA runs from 1 October 2025 to 30 September 2027 as TETRA project HBC.2025.0124, with the support of VLAIO, Flanders Innovation and Entrepreneurship.

Odisee

User Centered Experiences (UCE) research group, Technologiecampus Gent

  • Coordinates the project.
  • Leads the work on the design guidelines and on the practice validations with companies.
  • Runs the user tests in the Odisee UX Lab.
  • Builds Ultra Patterns and this site.

Project page of ULTRA at Odisee (in Dutch)

KU Leuven

Augment research group, human-centred explainable AI (Katrien Verbert)

  • Leads the research on the taxonomy, the analysis of existing AI interfaces and the human-centred evaluation framework (work package 1).
  • Contributes the explanation patterns and the research side of Ultra Patterns.
  • Leads the academic publications.

Artevelde University of Applied Sciences

Communication, Media and Design expertise network

  • Leads the work on using AI responsibly in the design process (work package 3).
  • That covers the report on AI in user research, the tool report, the selection wizard, the AI prototyping newsletter and workshop 3.
  • Does the graphic design of the AI design guide.

Project page of ULTRA at Artevelde University of Applied Sciences

The ULTRA network

Take part

Project planning

On 29 October 2026 the project is in month 13 of 24. It ends on 30 September 2027.
  1. Kick-off, Tuesday 18 November 2025, past
  2. Workshop 1, Tuesday 2 June 2026, past
  3. Workshop 2, Friday 23 October 2026, past
  4. Workshop 3, February 2027, date to be confirmed
  5. Workshop 4, Thursday 20 May 2027, coming up

Done

  1. Poster on context-aware selection of AI interface patterns at ACM IUI 2026 (IUI Companion ’26)
  2. Ultra Patterns is online, with the design patterns for AI interfaces by interface type and by level of evidence
  3. Measurement cards based on the KU Leuven evaluation framework, online in Ultra Patterns

Coming up

  1. Report for companies on the taxonomy, the needs of Flemish SMEs and existing AI interfaces
  2. The full evaluation framework for AI interfaces by KU Leuven Augment
  3. Report on the responsible use of AI in user research
  4. Overarching report on the user studies
  5. Evaluation report on generative AI tools for prototyping
  6. Online wizard that helps you choose an AI tool for your design process
  7. The AI design guide, online and in print, with guidelines, practice cases and reusable components
  8. The practice validations with companies and the scientific validation report
  9. Knowledge-sharing material for each practice case
  10. The project ends

Write to the ULTRA team

Mail us about joining the learning network, a possible case for the lab or anything else about the project.

ultra@odisee.beOpen Ultra Patterns
Coordination Thomas Van den Bossche, Odisee (User Centered Experiences)
Address Odisee Technologiecampus Gent, Gebroeders De Smetstraat 1, 9000 Gent, Belgium