Misbehavior, Distraction, Mistakes and Accessibility Testing for Real Life
We often assume that users behave rationally and follow a linear "happy path". But real interactions are far messier. People misclick, get distracted, skip instructions, or abandon tasks. These behaviors are not exceptions, especially for users with cognitive disabilities, ADHD, trauma histories, or anxiety. They are part of daily life.
This talk advocates for testing that reflects real-world unpredictability, mental effort, and emotional impact. It explores how current testing practices overlook critical failure points that appear when users do not follow expected “happy” paths. Drawing from cognitive accessibility principles, behavioral science, trauma-informed design, and emotional accessibility, it shows how systems often fail not because of technical errors, but because they are not built to handle mistakes and distraction.
We will introduce practical techniques to test cognitive overload, recovery, and robustness in unexpected situations. We will also explore emotional accessibility, the ability of a system to support calm, trust, and psychological safety, and why it plays a critical role. We will use examples from nav.no (the Norwegian Labour and Welfare Administration website) to show how its design has evolved over the years to address these issues.
Attendees will learn how to test not only for accessibility compliance, but also for clarity, recovery, and compassion, and how to make systems more forgiving, predictable, and inclusive.