THE BENEFITS OF COGNITIVE INCLUSION IN UX RESEARCH

Summary from the TLDR Design newsletter

A UX research study by a Fable VP found that participants with cognitive disabilities identified 1.8 times more usability issues and made 1.8 times more suggestions than general population participants across three AI-generated test websites. Cognitive testers were especially more likely to surface problems with content, buttons, icons, visual elements, and media, while also providing richer qualitative feedback about mental load and cognitive effort. The findings argue that including people with cognitive disabilities in mainstream UX research — not just accessibility testing — leads to more efficient research and better products for all users.