Ask HN: Easiest UX for Seniors

A founder running a senior‑heavy service begged for help: older users are exhausted by passwords, confused by changing screens, and trapped in the dreaded “forgot password” loop. They even find Google sign‑ins baffling when multiple accounts pop up. Cue the Hacker News chorus—and it’s spicy.

One faction went full practical: “Just copy Facebook” and keep people logged in forever. Minimal surprises, no constant re‑entering—simple as that, said one commenter, sparking cheers from folks who’ve seen grandma breeze through Facebook but stall everywhere else. Another camp yelled, ditch passwords entirely. Send one‑time codes by text or email (that’s two‑factor authentication, a.k.a. 2FA), let them punch in a code, and boom: done. A third voice chimed in with standards: aim for AAA WCAG—the top accessibility bar—so buttons are clear, text is readable, and nothing is hard to find.

Then came the quotes that launched a thousand upvotes: “easiest ui is no ui”—the meme take of the day. And the gut‑punch reality check: one user described teaching his 84‑year‑old dad how the “pointy‑arrow thing” moves to the “wide rectangle” on the screen, adding, “No UI library is going to solve his struggles.” The thread’s verdict? A mix of empathy and exasperation: keep it stable, keep it visible, keep them logged in—and maybe, just maybe, stop changing things every other week.