Our interfaces have lost their senses
Think about how you experience the world—
you touch, you hear, you move.
But our digital world has been getting flatter, more muted.
Reduced to text under glass screens.
This shift made interfaces simpler.
But was that really the goal?
The Great Flattening
Computers used to be physical beasts.
We programmed them by punching cards, plugging in wires, and flipping switches. Programmers walked among banks of switches and cables, physically choreographing their logic. Being on a computer used to be a full-body experience.
Then came terminals and command lines. Physical knobs turned into typed commands—more powerful, but our digital world became less embodied. Then came terminals and command lines. Physical knobs turned into typed commands—more powerful, but our digital world became less embodied. Then came terminals and command lines. Physical knobs turned into typed commands—more powerful, but our digital world became less embodied. Then came terminals and command lines. Physical knobs turned into typed commands—more powerful, but our digital world became less embodied. Then came terminals and command lines. Physical knobs turned into typed commands—more powerful, but our digital world became less embodied. Then came terminals and command lines. Physical knobs turned into typed commands—more powerful, but our digital world became less embodied.
We brought back some of the tactile controls with GUIs—graphical user interfaces. We skeumorphed the heck out of our screens, with digital switches, flat sliders, and folder icons. But we kept some of the the functionality in the physical world, with slots to stick disks into and big ol' power buttons. We brought back some of the tactile controls with GUIs—graphical user interfaces. We skeumorphed the heck out of our screens, with digital switches, flat sliders, and folder icons. But we kept some of the the functionality in the physical world, with slots to stick disks into and big ol' power buttons. We brought back some of the tactile controls with GUIs—graphical user interfaces. We skeumorphed the heck out of our screens, with digital switches, flat sliders, and folder icons. But we kept some of the the functionality in the physical world, with slots to stick disks into and big ol' power buttons. We brought back some of the tactile controls with GUIs—graphical user interfaces. We skeumorphed the heck out of our screens, with digital switches, flat sliders, and folder icons. But we kept some of the the functionality in the physical world, with slots to stick disks into and big ol' power buttons. We brought back some of the tactile controls with GUIs—graphical user interfaces. We skeumorphed the heck out of our screens, with digital switches, flat sliders, and folder icons. But we kept some of the the functionality in the physical world, with slots to stick disks into and big ol' power buttons. We brought back some of the tactile controls with GUIs—graphical user interfaces. We skeumorphed the heck out of our screens, with digital switches, flat sliders, and folder icons. But we kept some of the the functionality in the physical world, with slots to stick disks into and big ol' power buttons.
Then came touchscreens.
What a beautiful thing! We get to
poke things directly!
But now we live in an flat land, with everything behind a glass display case.
Then came touchscreens.
What a beautiful thing! We get to
poke things directly!
But now we live in an flat land, with everything behind a glass display case.
Then came touchscreens.
What a beautiful thing! We get to
poke things directly!
But now we live in an flat land, with everything behind a glass display case.
Then came touchscreens.
What a beautiful thing! We get to
poke things directly!
But now we live in an flat land, with everything behind a glass display case.
Then came touchscreens.
What a beautiful thing! We get to
poke things directly!
But now we live in an flat land, with everything behind a glass display case.
Then came touchscreens.
What a beautiful thing! We get to
poke things directly!
But now we live in an flat land, with everything behind a glass display case.
With increasing amounts of AI chatbots, we're losing even more: texture, color, shape.
Instead
of interactive controls, we have a text input.
Want to edit an image? Type a command.
Adjust a setting? Type into a text box.
Learn something? Read another block of text.
With increasing amounts of AI chatbots, we're losing even more: texture, color, shape.
Instead
of interactive controls, we have a text input.
Want to edit an image? Type a command.
Adjust a setting? Type into a text box.
Learn something? Read another block of text.
With increasing amounts of AI chatbots, we're losing even more: texture, color, shape.
Instead
of interactive controls, we have a text input.
Want to edit an image? Type a command.
Adjust a setting? Type into a text box.
Learn something? Read another block of text.
With increasing amounts of AI chatbots, we're losing even more: texture, color, shape.
Instead
of interactive controls, we have a text input.
Want to edit an image? Type a command.
Adjust a setting? Type into a text box.
Learn something? Read another block of text.
With increasing amounts of AI chatbots, we're losing even more: texture, color, shape.
Instead
of interactive controls, we have a text input.
Want to edit an image? Type a command.
Adjust a setting? Type into a text box.
Learn something? Read another block of text.
With increasing amounts of AI chatbots, we're losing even more: texture, color, shape.
Instead
of interactive controls, we have a text input.
Want to edit an image? Type a command.
Adjust a setting? Type into a text box.
Learn something? Read another block of text.
The Joy of Doing
We've been successfully removing all friction from our apps — think about how effortless it is to scroll through a social feed. But is that what we want? Compare the feeling of doomscrolling to kneading dough, playing an instrument, sketching... these take effort, but they're also deeply satisfying. When you strip away too much friction, meaning and satisfaction go with it.
Think about how you use physical tools. Drawing isn't just moving your hand—it's the feel of the pencil against paper, the tiny adjustments of pressure, the sound of graphite scratching. You shift your body to reach the other side of the canvas. You erase with your other hand. You step back to see the whole picture.
We made painting feel like typing,
but we should have made typing feel like painting.
Putting the you back in UI
So how might our interfaces look if we shaped them to fit us?
We use our hands to sculpt, our eyes to scan, our ears to catch patterns.
Our computers can communicate to us in many different formats, each with their own strengths:
And what about the reverse! We can communicate to our computers in many different ways, each with their own strengths:
And the real magic happens when we combine different modalities. You can't read and listen and speak at the same time—try reading this excerpt while talking about your day:
If it had not rained on a certain May morning Valancy Stirling’s whole life would have been entirely different. She would have gone, with the rest of her clan, to Aunt Wellington’s engagement picnic and Dr. Trent would have gone to Montreal. But it did rain and you shall hear what happened to her because of it.
Let's build interfaces that let us multitask across senses.
Rebuilding the bridge
So, what might a richer interface look like? I have strong conviction that our future interfaces should:
- let us collaborate on tangible artifacts, not just ephemeral chat logs.
- support multiple concurrent modalities—voice, gestures, visuals, spatial components.
- respond to ambient signals—detecting context, organizing information, helping us think better.
Last year, I did a rough exploration of what this could look like for a thought organizing tool. One that listened as you talked or typed, and organized your rambling thoughts into cards.
This interface is very rough, but felt like a different way of working with technology. Especially how it let me bumble through rough ideas one second, then responded to commands like "re-group my cards" or "add 3 cards about this" the next.
I would love to see more explorations like this!
Our interfaces have lost their senses
All day, we poke, swipe, and scroll through flat, silent screens. But we're more than just eyes and a pointer finger. We think with our hands, our ears, our bodies.
The future of computing is being designed right now. Can we build something richer—something that moves with us, speaks our language, and molds to our bodies?
