My 89-year-old mother was sent a 17-digit security code to check her bin collection online. To update her mobile number on the national identity verification service, she needs to receive a text on the old phone she no longer has.
These services were designed by people like me, after countless hours of user testing with vulnerable users.
Here's what I learned:
We typically test with people who have lived experience, not people going through it right now. We pigeon-hole "vulnerable users" into categories - elderly, disabled, financially stretched - while failing to recognise that international research shows that almost all users are more vulnerable since the pandemic, whether they had COVID or not. We think "I've done user research" means we've covered accessibility. But something fundamental has changed.
One-third of UK adults report daily debilitating stress from information overload. Post-pandemic cognitive impacts persist globally - brain fog, reduced attention spans, difficulty processing complex information. This isn't about a minority of "vulnerable" users. This is everyone, including your research participants.
Standard user story format looks like this: "As a benefits claimant, I want to submit my evidence so I can receive payment."
What it systematically excludes: this person has failed twice already. They're exhausted. They're terrified. Anxiety is actively reducing their cognitive capacity while they try to complete your form. That accumulation of small harms - what I call micro-trauma - is what user story format misses by design. It focuses on the goal, not the journey. And for users experiencing cognitive overload, the journey IS the harm.
What you'll get:
This talk gives you three questions that reveal what your current methodology excludes, real examples from services supporting 5.6 million people, and regulatory context (UK FCA Consumer Duty, US CFPB guidelines) that gives you leverage with stakeholders who think accessibility means passing automated tests. You'll leave with a framework you can apply to existing work tomorrow morning.
