🔮 BlessingSeries Issue 25 — If I Can’t Read You, I Won’t Trust You

If I Can’t Read You, I Won’t Trust You. Image made with Gemini

Yesterday, I didn’t go to the grocery store planning to learn a UX lesson.

I went in for the usual things. Bread. Milk. Fruits. etc. The everyday items that barely register as decisions anymore. Then, as I walked past one of the aisles, a pack of cookies caught my eye. The packaging was beautiful. Clean. Modern. Bold colors. The kind of design that silently says, “I’m premium. Pick me.”

Naturally, I reached out.

I held the cookies in my hand and did what many of us do without thinking. I turned the pack around to read the label. Ingredients. Nutritional information. Allergens. Something. Anything.

But I couldn’t read it.

The text wasn’t in English. The font was tiny. The contrast was poor. The layout felt cluttered. I squinted. I tilted the pack. I brought it closer to my eyes. Still nothing meaningful registered.

And just like that, I dropped it back on the shelf.

I didn’t debate. I didn’t try harder. I didn’t think twice.

I said to myself, very clearly: “If I can’t read your label, I’m out.”

That moment lasted seconds, but it stayed with me. Because that single interaction mirrors what users do every day with digital products, AI tools, websites, apps, and systems.

Attraction gets attention. But clarity earns trust.

First Impressions Invite. Readability Decides.

The cookies did their job at first. The visual design worked. It pulled me in.

But design does not end at attraction. In UX, attraction is just the opening door. The real work begins when users try to understand what they are looking at.

In UX terms, that cookie failed at usability and accessibility, not aesthetics.

And users do not negotiate with poor usability.

They leave.

UX Lesson 1: Readability Is Not Optional

In UX design, readability is one of the most basic principles, yet it is often sacrificed for aesthetics.

Small fonts. Low contrast. Overly stylized typography. Dense layouts. Designers sometimes forget that design is not about impressing the eye. It is about serving the human.

Jakob Nielsen of the Nielsen Norman Group, one of the most respected UX research organizations globally, has consistently emphasized that legibility and readability directly impact user comprehension, trust, and task completion.

Their research shows that users abandon interfaces quickly when text is difficult to read, regardless of how visually appealing the design is.

This applies to cookie labels and digital interfaces alike.

If users struggle to read, they stop engaging.

Accessibility Is UX, Not a Feature

That cookie label reminded me of a truth many teams still resist.

Accessibility is not an add-on. Accessibility is UX.

If I, as someone without a visual disability, struggled to read that label, imagine how many others were completely excluded.

This is where accessibility guidelines matter.

The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), specify minimum contrast ratios, font sizes, and layout considerations to ensure content is readable for people with visual impairments.

While WCAG focuses on digital products, the same principles apply to physical design like packaging.

Poor readability is not just bad design, it’s exclusion.

UX Lesson 2: Users Do Not “Try Harder”

One of the biggest misconceptions in product design is the belief that users will put in extra effort if they are interested enough.

They won’t.

Users do not troubleshoot your design. They do not feel obligated to decode it. They do not owe your product patience.

The moment I couldn’t read that label, my decision was final.

This behavior is well documented.

A classic Microsoft research found that users abandon tasks when cognitive load becomes too high, even if the task itself is simple.

If something requires extra mental effort to understand, users opt out.

Trust Is Built Through Transparency

Reading labels is not just about information. It is about trust.

When I pick up food, I want to know what I am consuming. Ingredients. Allergens. Nutritional value. If that information is hidden, unreadable, or hard to access, it triggers doubt.

The same thing happens in digital products.

If users cannot understand:

• What data is being collected
• How AI decisions are made
• What actions will do
• What consequences exist

They disengage.

This is why explainability has become a major focus in AI design.

AI Lesson: Explainability Is the New Readability

In AI systems, readability shows up as explainability.

Users want to understand:

• Why an AI made a recommendation
• Why a decision was taken
• Why content was flagged
• Why results changed

When AI systems behave like black boxes, trust erodes.

A strong case study here is Google’s Explainable AI initiative, which focuses on making AI outputs understandable to users and developers.

Google found that explainable models significantly improve user trust and adoption.

Just like food labels, AI systems need clarity to be trusted.

UX Lesson 3: Visual Design Without Clarity Is Deceptive

That cookie package looked good, but it failed where it mattered most.

This is a common UX anti-pattern. Design that prioritizes style over substance.

Apple, often praised for aesthetics, has repeatedly emphasized clarity as one of its core design principles.

Their Human Interface Guidelines clearly state that text must be legible at all sizes and that visual beauty should never interfere with comprehension.

Good design is quiet. It does not demand effort.

Accessibility Is Also a Business Decision

Many companies still treat accessibility as a compliance requirement rather than a growth opportunity.

But accessible design expands markets.

A well-documented example is Target’s accessibility redesign after facing a lawsuit related to its website’s inaccessibility to blind users.

Target invested in accessibility improvements, including better text structure, readability, and screen reader support. The result was not just legal compliance but improved usability for all users and increased customer satisfaction.

Accessibility improved UX for everyone.

The Cookie Was a User Test

That moment in the grocery store was an unplanned usability test.

The cookie passed:

• Visual attraction

But failed:

• Readability
• Accessibility
• Trust
• Transparency

And like most users, I gave immediate feedback by walking away.

Users do not send emails. They do not complain. They simply leave.

Designing for Humans, Not Screens

At its core, UX design is about respecting human limits.

Eyes get tired. Attention is fragile. Patience is short.

Design must meet people where they are, not where we wish they were.

Whether it is a cookie label, a mobile app, or an AI-powered dashboard, the rule remains the same:

If users cannot easily understand it, they will not engage with it.

Final Reflection

That cookie taught me something simple but powerful.

Beauty may invite the hand, but clarity decides the purchase.

As designers and builders of AI-driven systems, we must remember this. Design is not decoration. Design is communication.

And if communication fails, the relationship ends.

References

• Legibility, Readability, and Comprehension: Making Users Read Your Words
• WCAG 2 Overview
• Microsoft Inclusive Design
• Introduction to Vertex Explainable AI
• AI Explainability Whitepaper (PDF)
• Apple’s Typography
• A Cautionary Tale of Inaccessibility: Target Corporation
• Target lawsuit settled
• Innovation and Accessibility: Creating Outstanding Customer Experiences at Target

BlessingSeries #UXDesign #Accessibility #InclusiveDesign #AIDesign #ProductDesign #HumanCenteredDesign #UXResearch #ExplainableAI #DesignEthics #UserTrust #DigitalAccessibility