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.”
TactPlus is a Braille and 3D imaging printer designed to enhance accessibility for individuals with visual disabilities. Compact and portable, it prints Braille on specialty paper in under two minutes. With audio instructions and a price of $1,400, TactPlus offers an affordable and efficient solution for educational institutions and users on the go. Key Accessibility […]
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For individuals with color blindness, navigating a world designed around color can be frustrating. Everyday tasks such as interpreting traffic signals and distinguishing between similarly colored objects become far more difficult. EnChroma glasses are an assistive technology designed to enhance color perception by filtering specific wavelengths of light. While they cannot “cure” color blindness, they
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As a school librarian, I will be focusing on assistive technology that can be used in a school setting. I will be reviewing the CIE Soundfield System. This is a form of voice amplification technology which allows the speaker to wear a microphone to transmit sound around the room through speakers. In schools, this is
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Conditions like strokes or arthritis can make applying lipstick challenging. Lancôme’s Hapta, designed for people with limited hand, wrist and arm mobility, is a computerized lipstick holder that compensates for disabled users’ dexterity.
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Siri is Apple’s AI-powered virtual assistant, integrated into the company’s devices like iPhones, iPads, and Macs. It enables hands-free interaction through voice commands, assisting users with tasks like messaging, navigation, and scheduling. As an assistive technology, Siri enhances accessibility by enabling hands-free control, voice dictation, and screen reading, supporting users with disabilities and making technology
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Apple’s VoiceOver is a built-in screen reader that provides spoken feedback and gesture-based navigation for users with visual impairments. It improves accessibility (social model) and usability (functional solutions model) but has challenges like affordability (economic model) and gesture limitations (medical model). Developers and policymakers must enhance accessibility for a more inclusive digital experience.
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The Ulta Beauty app makes shopping enjoyable by enabling users to book salon services, earn and redeem points through the Ultamate Rewards program, and explore and buy beauty products. It has a barcode scanner for in-store discounts, order monitoring, and personalized product recommendations. Beauty shopping is made more convenient and fulfilling by providing users with
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Weee! is an app that sells Asian groceries and products that are unavailable on many American online shopping platforms. Unlike grocery shopping apps such as Amazon Fresh and Instcart, Weee! focuses on providing products for Asian communities within the US and seeks to make Asian food and goods accessible and affordable. Explore products in various
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The IRCTC website, India’s primary platform for train ticket booking, serves a massive user base daily. However, its complexity often leads to a frustrating user experience. This critique examines the IRCTC desktop website, focusing on usability principles to identify areas of strength and weakness in its design and functionality, ultimately aiming to suggest improvements for
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iOS Live Captions is an assistive technology available on iPhone, iPad, and Mac that provides real-time spoken audio transcriptions across various digital and in-person communication formats. Live Captions converts spoken audio into on-screen text, enabling people to follow conversations, phone calls, online videos, and streaming services without relying on interpreters. This feature is particularly beneficial
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