---
title: "Why generative UI needs real-time state | Snowplow Signals"
description: "A generated interface is only as good as the data it reads. Stale state makes it guess; real-time state lets it respond to the current visit."
source: https://signals.snowplow.io/learning/generative-ui/why-generative-ui-needs-real-time-state
---

[Learning](https://signals.snowplow.io/learning) / [Generative UI](https://signals.snowplow.io/learning/generative-ui) 

# Why generative UI needs real-time state

Generative UI decides what to render from data about the visit. If that data is stale, the interface is generated from yesterday's picture of the visitor. Real-time state is what makes a generated interface worth generating.

## Generation is only as good as its input

The appeal of generative UI is that the interface responds to the person. That only holds if the data it reads describes the person now. Fed a segment from last night, the same machinery produces a layout for who the visitor was, not who they are on this visit.

## What real-time state looks like

Real-time state is the running picture of a visit: pages seen in the last few minutes, the last action and how long ago, items viewed, a search that returned nothing, a basket left idle. It updates as the visitor acts, and it is available to read on the next request.

## The pairing

Generative UI supplies the acting. Real-time state supplies the knowing. A product with both can change within the visit. A product with only the rendering half can change the layout, but not for a reason the visitor would recognize.

## Put it to work

* [Generative UI on Signals →](https://signals.snowplow.io/lp/generative-ui)
* [Build an adaptive experience →](https://signals.snowplow.io/lp/adaptive-experiences)

## See it on your own traffic 

Add the SDK, define one attribute, and see an attribute updating against your own traffic in the first session. The free tier runs on the real engine: no card, no sales call.

[Start free](https://signals.snowplow.io/start) [Talk to an engineer](https://signals.snowplow.io/start?intent=engineer) 

More explainers in the [Learning Center →](https://signals.snowplow.io/learning)