I recently attended the World Usability Congress 2024 in Graz, and it was packed with insightful talks about user experience, accessibility, and how we as designers can better connect technology to the people who use it. Two talks, in particular, stood out to me – John Bowie’s presentation on how UX designers see things no one else can see, and Kent Eisenhuth’s talk about accessibility in design. These sessions really got me thinking about how these topics could help me with my master’s thesis.
In this blog post, I’ll show the key takeaways from those talks and explain how they provide crucial input for my thesis, both in terms of research and practical application, since I’ve changed my topic to designing an app which rewards people who make sustainable decisions in their everyday life in a gamified way either with real rewards like e.g. discounts or in a virtual way or both.
John Bowie on UX Challenges and the Importance of Seeing What Others Can’t
John Bowie’s talk hit on something that anyone working in design has probably experienced: the disconnect between engineers, product managers, and UX designers. Engineers and product managers often overlook UX problems because they’re so focused on making the product function. Bowie raised a critical point: How can we help others see what we see? How can UX designers make engineers and product managers aware of user experience issues that might be invisible to them?
He also cited a quote from Alan Cooper’s 1999 book The Inmates Are Running the Asylum:
„Our lives are becoming ever more centered around the whims, quips, decisions, and disasters of the high-tech industry. And these hardware, software, and technology developers don’t think like us. Despite appearances, business executives are simply not the ones in control of the high-tech world – it is the engineers who are running the show. We have let the inmates run the asylum.“
This perfectly captures the reality of how decisions in tech are often made without enough consideration for how real people will interact with products. In my project, where I’m working on making sustainability a part of everyday life through gamification, this insight is crucial. If I don’t stay focused on the user’s experience, my product could fall into the same trap of prioritizing technical functionality over actual usability.
Bowie also introduced the UX Maturity Model, a framework to assess how much an organization values and integrates UX into its processes. This is something that could come in handy for any UX designer trying to push for more user-centered design in their company. The model breaks organizations into six stages, from „Absent“ (UX doesn’t exist) to „User-driven“ (UX is a core part of the company’s culture).
- Absent: UX is ignore
- Limited: UX work is sporadic and unimportant
- Emergent: There’s some UX work, but it’s inconsistent
- Structured: UX practices exist but vary in effectiveness
- Integrated: UX is widespread and effective
- User-driven: UX is central to every part of the organization
For my thesis, this maturity model is a practical way to assess how different apps/websites that I might evaluate over time (or even my own design process) approach user-centered design. Knowing where a sustainability app or product falls on this scale helps me see the opportunities for where they could evolve to better engage with the users and create meaningful behavior change.
One of the most actionable parts of Bowie’s talk was his advice on asking three critical questions when designing for user experience: Relevance, Findability, and Effectiveness. These are things I need to consider when building my own project.
- Relevance – Does the information or task help the user move closer to their goal, or is it just a detour? This is key when designing interactions in my app – everything needs to feel like it’s helping the user move forward.
- Findability – Can users easily locate the information they need? Are they aware they need it? In my project, if users can’t find the eco-friendly habits or challenges they need to engage with, they’ll likely lose interest.
- Effectiveness – Once the user finds what they’re looking for, can they easily use it? This ties directly into the usability of my app – if it’s not easy to use, no one will want to engage with it.
These questions help me keep the user at the center of the design process, ensuring the app stays simple, clear, and intuitive.
Kent Eisenhuth on Accessibility
Kent Eisenhuth’s talk on accessibility was also very interesting. Accessibility is often treated as an afterthought, but he argued that it should be a priority from the start of any design process. This is something I hadn’t considered as deeply before, but Eisenhuth showed how designing for accessibility can actually result in better design for everyone—not just for people with disabilities.
His talk was packed with practical tips on making data visualizations and interfaces more accessible. For example, he recommended using a combination of fills and borders to highlight important information, moving labels next to segments instead of using confusing legends, and using dark mode to reduce visual clutter and help users to focus.
One of Eisenhuth’s most interesting points to me was about data sonification, or using sound to describe charts and graphs. By thinking about different ways to present information – like using sound cues instead of relying solely on visual elements – one can reach a wider audience.
He also mentioned that sometimes, charts and graphs are just not a good solution. In some cases, offering a data table might be a better option for accessibility, as it allows users to navigate the information with ease, especially for people who rely on screen readers.
Conclusion
Both of these talks have helped me see how essential it is to consider every aspect of the user experience – from how users find and interact with information to ensuring the design is accessible for everyone. As I continue developing my thesis on gamifying sustainable habits, these insights will shape both the theoretical framework and the practical elements of my project. Ultimately, the goal is to create an app that not only helps users build sustainable habits but does so in a way that’s engaging, intuitive, and accessible for all.
Links
More about the UX maturity model: https://www.nngroup.com/articles/ux-maturity-model/
A website that Kent Eisenhuth mentioned and that I found very interesting and might come in handy at some point to find inspiration, is Google’s open source design system Material 3: https://m3.material.io/
The Nielsen Norman Group also has a useful collection of relevant information on accessibility and inclusivity: https://www.nngroup.com/articles/accessibility-inclusivity-study-guide/
