Technology should create choices, not assumptions
Notes on the difference between products that anticipate a person and products that decide for them.
Every product carries a set of assumptions about the person using it. Some are helpful. Some quietly narrow the range of lives the product can support.
The strongest assistive tools invite decisions rather than replace them. They present options, explain trade-offs, and remember what a person has already chosen. They are willing to be adjusted.
The weakest assistive tools decide for the person. They optimize a single path and treat everything else as an edge case. They tend to look impressive in a demo and less impressive in a life.
The framing question for a new build is not 'can this replace a task?' It is 'does this give the person more say in how the task gets done?'
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