Modern tech UX has become so complicated that even younger users struggle with hidden menus, vague gestures and multi-step processes that turn simple tasks into complicated ones.
Remember when technology was supposed to make life easier? That dream is long gone. Instead of simplifying our lives, modern UX has become an endurance test designed to see how much frustration the average user can take before smashing their device.
Older adults are being left behind completely, struggling with interfaces that make no sense.
But here is the thing: even younger users, the so-called "digital natives", constantly battle counter-intuitive design, hidden options and convoluted processes. This is no longer a generational problem. It is a universal one.
Tech companies love to call their interfaces "intuitive", but what they really mean is "intuitive if you have spent years memorising our particular logic". Take something as simple as a screenshot. Once upon a time you pressed one button and it worked.
Now, depending on your device, you might need to press the power and volume-up buttons together: too fast and nothing happens; too slow and you accidentally turn the phone off. On other devices you might have to swipe the screen with your hand as if casting a spell.
Meanwhile, on a MacBook there are three different keyboard shortcuts for a screenshot, each more complicated than the last. Why? Who decided basic functions needed to become an obstacle course?
And don't get me started on turning off an iPhone. You hold the power button, but not too long, or Siri appears. Then you have to confirm with an extra swipe. Apparently the simple act of switching off a device is no longer an easy decision; Apple needs to make sure you really mean it.
Everyday interaction with technology has turned into a guessing game. Trying to clear your browsing history in Chrome? Good luck. The setting is buried several menus deep, as if Google is actively hoping you'll give up and let them keep your data forever.
Switching between apps on a Mac? You had better know the magic key combination, because clicking around will only waste your time.
Even smart TVs do it. Want to adjust the settings? First you need to find an invisible button hidden on the back of the set. Because apparently that is an upgrade.
Tech companies like to pretend their design is intuitive. But intuitive for whom? If you haven't lived in their ecosystem for years, you are stranded. Icons no longer have labels because "minimalism" is trendy.
That means people have to tap buttons at random until they work out what they do. The three-dot menu? It could mean settings, or share, or delete your entire account; there is no way to tell. The gear icon? Sometimes it is preferences, sometimes settings, sometimes it sends you to a completely different menu that has nothing to do with what you wanted.
This isn't just inconvenient; it is a real barrier for older users. If you hand an iPad to someone who didn't grow up with touch gestures, how are they supposed to magically know that swiping up from the bottom opens the control centre? It isn't written anywhere. There are no instructions. UX designers assume everyone already knows. And if you don't? Too bad.
But here is the catch: this isn't just bad design. Some of it is deliberate. Confusing things benefit tech companies. If an interface is frustrating, you spend more time trying to figure it out, which boosts engagement metrics.
If you can't easily turn off notifications, you will probably leave them on, which means more chances for the company to put ads in front of you. If you accidentally sign up for a free trial, they certainly won't remind you when it ends, because they want you to forget so they can start charging you.
And then there is accessibility, which somehow keeps getting worse instead of better. Fonts keep shrinking, with no option to adjust them. Interfaces use low-contrast colours that are hard to read for people with impaired vision.
Gesture controls assume you have the reflexes of a trained pianist. If you don't have perfect eyesight, perfect motor skills and a perfect memory for obscure settings, technology increasingly works against you.
At this point UX has become ageist. Instead of building interfaces for everyone, tech companies build products for highly coordinated 25-year-olds who already know the system inside out. And if you are not in that category? You will struggle.
So why isn't this being fixed? Because Big Tech doesn't care. Frustration keeps people engaged. The harder an app is to use, the more time you waste in it.
The harder it is to adjust settings, the less likely you are to unsubscribe. The more confusing it is to cancel a subscription, the more likely you are to keep paying. It is all by design.
The only way out of this mess is a consumer backlash. Tech companies won't change unless they are forced to. Right now they have no incentive to simplify because complexity serves their profits.
But users are getting fed up. Even the young, supposedly "tech-savvy" generation is pushing back. People are tired of learning complicated new workflows just to do basic things. They don't want "innovative" UX. They want technology that actually works.
The question is how long it will take companies to realise that making technology easy to use matters more than making it cool.
Until then, we are stuck with interfaces that require a PhD in frustration.
