I like the smart vs fast continuum that you’ve started using. I had an idea on how to make the wording even easier to understand, especially for new users using models with a lot of options.
Here is what the options look like for Claude 5.5 Heiku
Is balanced smarter than fast? From a UX perspective, this is confusing. I think “smarter” makes more sense in this context. I would also change “fast” to “faster.”
Another UX confusion is the word “off.” What are we turning off? Instead of using “off” which most users won’t understand you could use the phrase “No Reasoning.”
As the options scale, this wording is less ambiguous:
Two Options
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No Reasoning
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Faster $
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Smarter $$
Three Options:
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No Reasoning
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Faster $
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Balanced $$
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Smarter $$$
Four Options:
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No Reasoning
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Fastest $
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Faster $$
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Smarter $$$
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Smartest $$$$
Five Options
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No Reasoning
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Fastest $
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Faster $$
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Balanced $$$
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Smarter $$$$
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Smartest $$$$$
This setup gives even novice users a sense of reasoning, speed and cost in just a word and number of $ signs.
The downside with this setup is that it implies that Smartest is 5x more expensive than “No Reasoning” which is likely overstating the cost difference. So depending on how much reasoning impacts the cost, it might be better to leave out the cost altogether.
Another way to give more visibility into cost with dollar signs that are only partly filled in (like the star ratings on Amazon). So one Balanced might be