While setting up Milo, my Hermes agent, I kept running into friction: long silences, progress updates that just said “Python,” and no easy way to stop a long answer or get the agent into a conversation.

Each annoyance became one small fix: more useful progress updates, a Stop button, a Join button. The interaction got smooth enough that I wanted to use it regularly.

In this episode:

• Finding the little things that make you avoid using a tool
• Turning vague status messages into useful, sometimes funny updates
• Solving one friction point at a time
• Why your simplest useful fix may look different from mine

Try this with your own agent: “Here's the problem I'm trying to solve. What's the simplest fix?”

Less Miserable Tech is a podcast and field journal about real workflows: where they get stuck, what small fixes actually help, and how to make systems fit the people doing the work.

Website: https://lessmiserabletech.com/

Watch, listen and read transcripts: https://podcast.lessmiserabletech.com/make-your-ai-agent-less-miserable/

The problem was not that I lacked equipment. I own four tripods. The problem was that I needed to record Episode 01, and all the equipment was packed somewhere in the middle of a move.

The smallest useful fix turned out to be an outdoor table, a toolbox, and a cardboard box.

In this episode:

- Why naming the problem matters before choosing a tool

- How chasing the perfect setup can become the problem

- Why the simplest working solution is sometimes the right one

Principle 01: Name the problem before picking the tool.

Less Miserable Tech is a podcast and field journal about real workflows: where they get stuck, what small fixes actually help, and how to make systems fit the people doing the work.

Website: https://lessmiserabletech.com

Episode page: https://podcast.lessmiserabletech.com/the-right-tool-was-a-cardboard-box/