I have worked with people in their mid 30s who had an utter disgust for computers. I was “the guy who knew about computers but was more approachable than the IT guy” at a large office. Even though some people hate doing this kind of work, I always enjoyed it. Sometimes, people would hang around my desk first thing in the morning to get help with IT issues.

I made contacts with the executive team when I had to sign them up for their ChatGPT accounts and set up their VPNs (which often just involved pressing a button). They saw a YouTube ad about how a VPN kept them safe, and they paid for a year in advance...

People of all ages can have a hard time dealing with technology. And to be honest, the IT ecosystem has become adversarial. About a decade ago, installing antivirus software would eliminate many risk factors. But these days, with sponsored content and advertisements, there are so many ways people can mess up their systems.

I am also 54 years old, and I've grown up with every single user interface conceivable in a computer or device.

However, though that gives me an advantage in knowledge of how the systems work, I don't think I'm very good at navigating modern user interfaces.

My hypothesis goes like this: the people who are writing graphical user interfaces today are video gamers. They were playing twitch games and first person shooters until they got hired to program a user interface. The people who write them, and the people who use them, think nothing of split second reaction times and hand-eye coordination in order to navigate a user interface.

This is a very very bad approach. You should not need reaction times to navigate a user interface of an app that is used for business or what have you. The web is full of dynamic flows and ever-changing presentation. This is very detrimental to our mental health.

I believe that it's the inconsistent presentation of the interface and the ever-changing buttons and the ever updating methods of interacting that are so detrimental. It can really hurt someone who is on the edge of dementia or mental issues. Even the sanest people must have trouble navigating these things.

Every office program and every social media app has settings and configuration more complex than flying a 747. We should not need a pilot certification just to get through these settings. The settings multiply quite deliberately, so that they confuse and beguile the user and get us to give up! If the settings panel presents 1000 settings then we are far more likely to just leave them alone then try and manage them all. Especially when they are ephemeral and basically change themselves upon every update!

The problem is not with elderly people or with their mental status. It is with the very poor presentation and the video games that now rule our everyday life. Even a point of sale or a public computer kiosk is presenting these issues. There is something very wrong with that.