The standard user

The standard user

AI
The Listening Loop by Adi Prakash
Oct 14, 2026
08:18

Episode notes

Every service inscribes a standard user: one person, acting alone, who can see the screen, whose name fits the box. This week — the screen-reader user the bank form never imagined, the attorney with no digital channel, the name that won't fit the field, and the carer who does 95% of the portal work but isn't on the file. Nobody writes the standard user down. You can read it off the people it leaves out.

Plus: what I changed my mind about this week — the part you only get on the podcast.

Read the full essay: thelisteningloop.com New episodes every Wednesday.

Keywords

Service Design
Inclusive Design
Accessibility
UX
Design Research
Public Services
User Experience

Where this episode is made