Doors that don’t open themselves often open our eyes. That’s where Laura Wissiak journey began—watching visitors struggle with heavy museum doors in Vienna and realizing that access is the start of every user experience, not an afterthought. From there she taught herself UX, learned to code just enough to ship fixes, and found a voice by blogging through imposter syndrome. Along the way, she discovered that the accessibility community is bigger—and kinder—than it first appears, especially when we treat corrections as collaboration.

We dive into the hard parts most teams avoid: why “replace the white cane” is the wrong goal, how social signaling matters for safety and dignity, and what happens when you build with blind users from day one. Laura walks us through Hope Tech’s Sixth Sense, a sleek neck‑worn wearable that detects obstacles from head to knee and slightly beyond shoulder width—where low signs, open doors, and jutting branches lurk. With private haptic feedback, optional audio, and profiles tuned for crowded transit or open streets, Sixth Sense augments the cane’s ground‑level strengths instead of competing with them. Style is part of accessibility too, so the device looks like premium headphones rather than medical gear, reducing stigma and blending into daily life.

Beyond hardware, we talk about wayfinding, mental load, and why route planning for multi‑modal trips needs to be less exhausting. Laura shares candid lessons from co‑creation: users may cheer your intent while quietly rejecting your product, and that polite gap can sink a startup. The remedy is rigorous validation, lived experience inside the team, and a willingness to rebuild when the feedback you need contradicts the feedback you want. If you care about inclusive design, assistive technology, UX research, or accessible navigation, this conversation offers grounded insights you can apply today.

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