01 Aug The Only Way In
Deadline
When Mina first opened the form, she was already behind schedule.
The grant application was due by midnight. She had the documents ready — CV, portfolio, proposal. The site was minimalist. Clean lines. A single progress bar at the top.
She took a deep breath and began.
No Option Given
The first question required a short written answer. No problem.
The second asked her to drag and drop documents into a blank square.
She hesitated. Drag and drop had always been awkward with her voice software.
Still, she tried:
“Move file ‘CV final dot PDF’ to current field.”
Nothing.
She looked for a “Browse” button. Nothing.
Workaround
Mina checked the time: 10:47pm.
She knocked on the wall.
Her sister, next door, opened the door.
“I just need you to drag three files into a box,” Mina said.
“That’s it. Just… be my hands for five minutes.”
Her sister smiled, opened Mina’s laptop, followed her voice step by step.
Mina dictated. Her sister clicked.
Forward, Together
When they reached the final page, a bright green banner appeared:
“Thank you. Your application has been submitted.”
No one would ever know how the submission was completed — or that it took two people to do what the system assumed one person could.
A Quiet Note
The next morning, Mina wrote in her notebook:
“It’s not about access. It’s about options.
A good design meets you where you are.
A better one doesn’t assume you’re alone.”
Then a line beneath, half a joke:
“Next time — train the interface, not the user.”