---
id: "action-co-create-ai-tools"
type: "action-item"
source_timestamps: ["\\\"§ 3. Design AI with Workers", "Not Just for Them\\\""]
tags: ["product-design", "employee-feedback"]
related: ["entity-walmart", "quote-fixing-the-rudder", "entity-element-foundry"]
action: "Involve frontline workers in the prototyping and iterative testing of new AI tools."
outcome: "Higher adoption rates and tools that solve actual frontline pain points rather than theoretical corporate problems."
sources: ["adoption"]
sourceVaultSlug: "hbr-seg-adoption"
originDay: 9
articleStem: "hbr-edu-40-workers-dont-trust-ai"
sourceUrl: "https://hbr.org/2025/11/workers-dont-trust-ai-heres-how-companies-can-change-that"
sourceTitle: "Workers Don’t Trust AI. Here’s How Companies Can Change That."
---
# Co-Create AI Tools with End Users

**Action:** Establish **internal foundries** or iterative pilot programs where frontline employees actively test and give feedback on AI tools *during development*, so features reflect the realities of daily work — e.g., [[entity-walmart-d9]]'s shift-swapping features in its scheduling app, built on the [[entity-element-foundry]] platform.

**Expected outcome:** higher adoption rates and tools that solve *actual* frontline pain points rather than theoretical corporate problems.

**Implementation notes:** this is Step 3 of the [[framework-five-approaches-ai-trust]], captured metaphorically in [[quote-fixing-the-rudder]] (training without a say in design is "fixing the rudder in place"). Aligns with the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM): co-creation directly improves *perceived usefulness* and *perceived ease of use*, the two strongest drivers of adoption. **Caveat:** not all workers want to design tools — pair co-creation with well-designed, ready-to-use defaults for those who prefer them.


## Related across articles
- [[concept-pull-vs-push-adoption]]
- [[framework-building-ai-with-workers]]
- [[action-cocreate-strategies]]