Inspiration:
CakeUI was inspired by the widespread issue of digital exclusion among older adults, with around 5.8 million people aged 65+ in the UK struggling to use the internet effectively (Age UK, 2023). We saw how complex interfaces can reduce independence, and this motivated us to design a solution where technology adapts to the user rather than forcing users to adapt to technology.
What We Learned:
We learned that usability depends on balancing user ability and interface complexity. By reducing interface complexity, we can significantly improve confidence and accessibility, especially for elderly users who may struggle with cognitive load and unfamiliar design patterns.
How We Built It
We built CakeUI as a behaviour-driven plug-in that monitors user interactions such as hesitation, repeated clicks, and errors, then dynamically simplifies the interface through features like larger text, decluttered screens, and single-task focus, gradually reintroducing complexity over time to support learning and independence.
Challenges
The main challenges were balancing simplicity with long-term learning, accurately interpreting user behaviour, working within hackathon time constraints, and ensuring ethical design so that the system supports and empowers users without reducing their autonomy.
Goal
The ultimate goal is to ease the user into being comfortable with the original interface, slowly, step-by-step. We want to achieve this by designing a plastic interface for non-plastic brains.
Reflection
This project taught us that inclusive design is essential, not optional, and that technology should feel intuitive and supportive; ultimately, CakeUI reinforced our belief that the best technology is not the most powerful, but the most human.
Built With
- antigravity
- chatgpt
- claude
- gemini
- javascript
- python
- railway
- react
- swiftui
- tailwind
- xcode
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