rjs predicts a usability backlash against chat: 'chat is hard on the brain'
teropa · x · 2026-11-04
Designer rjs argues a new wave of interest in usability is coming. Chat interfaces are cognitively punishing — everything lives in your head, context must be remembered, special modes abound — running contrary to Don Norman's usability principles, like a kitchen where items move every time you walk in.
He contends systems of record and recognizable displays aren't going away; the real shift is how fluidly users can now change state within them. The takeaway: AI's next frontier may be interaction design, not raw model capability.
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