What makes some designs good and others bad? Why do some designs work while others don’t? Posts in this category offer thoughtful design critiques of modern digital interfaces, with commentary inspired by Don Norman’s “The Design of Everyday Things.”
The Xbox Adaptive Controller is a customizable gaming controller designed to make video games more accessible to players with disabilities. It functions as a central hub that connects to external buttons, switches, and joysticks, allowing players to create control setups that align with their physical abilities, preferences, and ways of interacting with games.
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Pikmin Bloom is a free augmented reality (AR) mobile app developed by Niantic and Nintendo. By implementing gamification strategies, it encourages players to walk more, explore their surroundings, and foster healthy habits. Although Pikmin Bloom demonstrates the power of gamification, it still suffers from several usability friction points that disrupt the Seven Stages of Action.
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Preply is a language-learning platform that connects students with live tutors. This critique covers the typical student experience on iOS platforms, including onboarding, tutor discovery, booking, and language practice features.
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The Ray-Ban Meta AI Glasses enable users to send messages, make calls, take pictures and videos, listen to music, and use voice commands to ask Meta AI questions and receive answers in real time (Meta, 2026). Although the glasses are marketed as a lifestyle device, they also function as assistive technology for people with visual
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This post is about the Obi Adaptive Eating Device, an assistive technology that helps people with upper extremity disabilities eat independently. Obi uses a robotic arm and customizable switches to deliver food to the user, supporting greater autonomy, comfort, and inclusion during meals.
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IKOU is a portable chair designed for infants and toddlers who need postural support. Created by parent Yuri Matsumoto with IDEO Tokyo, it was designed to allow families to bring postural support with them outside the home. In Japan, government-subsidized supportive chairs work well at home but are too bulky and heavy to transport easily.
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The rollator was created by Aina Wifalk in 1978 as a response to fatigue using walking sticks and walkers. With features such as large swivel wheels, a seat, and handlebars with brakes, the rollator is an assistive technology that helps people with physical disabilities move through spaces safely, efficiently, and independently.
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Abstract Overview: As the largest audio streaming service globally, the emotional experience of the Spotify app proliferates at a massive scale. This means that changes to its design and how it interacts with users’ emotions can have a significant impact, for better or for worse. For these millions of individuals, Spotify is one of the
Introduction Pokémon Shuffle is a mobile puzzle game where players line up Pokémon icons to battle opponents and progress through levels. It blends casual match-three gameplay with RPG elements like team optimization and collecting Pokémon. The game succeeds in keeping players engaged, but its registration, onboarding, and interface design also reveal notable usability challenges. Registration
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Introduction CapCut for Mac is a desktop video editor that aims to make video editing fast and approachable while offering a broad set of features. The experience is sleek and simple, but some design choices create friction around onboarding, visibility, sharing and error recovery especially for new users. Getting Started: Registration & Onboarding Right away,
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