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Craig Nicol (he/him)
Craig Nicol (he/him)

Posted on • Originally published at craignicol.wordpress.com on

Thinking outside the box: the difference between constraints and perceptions

You need an app.

The constraint is that it has to be accessible.

The perception is that it has to be screen reader friendly.

But… That excludes deaf people who miss the audio cues in the app

… That misses the option to add voice control. If it’s a booking app, why not talk through the booking?


The constraint is that users need to be notified (it’s a legal requirement)

The perception is that only one channel is acceptable (must be post, must be a tracked email)

But… each user has their own preference, or accessibility baseline. Post only may help, or hinder, victims of abuse. I can’t guarantee that you’ve read a letter, but I can guarantee you’ve hit the “I read this” button.


The constraint is that you need to mark and control personal and sensitive data because of GDPR, and you need informed consent to do that

The perception is that making users click “I agree” is informed consent

The perception is that gaining consent absolves you of responsibility to mark and control personal data “because they agreed to our terms and conditions”

The perception is that location data isn’t sensitive, even though Google knows your home and work address, and the address of the abortion clinic, the LGBT nightclub, the local mosque, the local love hotel

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