We at Uism pride ourselves in our curiosity. No place is that better exemplified than in the connections we strive to make with a wide variety of people, and expand our knowledge and understanding. These Chance Chats are an opportunity to share what we’ve learned from the people we’ve come across, especially the kind of people who would be difficult to connect with and have the chance for an in-depth conversation. While one person will never be the definitive exemplar of any topic, it’s a viable explorative research strategy to direct future studies and where to dive in deeper. 

About this Episode 

When we think about disability and accessibility we usually imagine the experiences and impacts on those with long-term or permanent conditions. Sign language is the first language for people born deaf. Braille on signage is vital for those who have lost their sight. Yet, accessibility and inclusive design includes those experiencing temporary disabilities. An elevator is important for a man in a wheelchair, regardless of how long they spend immobile. In this episode of Chance Chats, we interviewed someone suffering an injury that left her unable to use one of her arms. For this temporary disability, the core questions at the heart of the Chance Chat were: 

Methodology 

This Episode was conducted in January 2026 as a 1-on-1 in-depth interview between the participant and the moderator. The moderator prepared a set of questions to guide discussion prior to the interview session to use the time to the utmost. To maximize the participant’s comfort and peace of mind, the interview was conducted only between the two of them online. 

Participant Profile 

Note: In accordance with the privacy agreement of the interviewee, all audio recordings have been reenacted by our staff. 

Audio 1: Introduction 

Ninoko is fairly experienced in both skiing and snowboarding. Unfortunately, she suffered an accident resulting in a complex fracture to her left (non-dominant) arm and shoulder. The injury would leave her unable to use the arm as usual for about four months—a temporary, but still significant disability. The moderator asked her to share her initial feelings and experience immediately after the incident. 

Audio 2: First Days After the Incident 

Ninoko was fortunate enough to be visiting her parents in Gunma prefecture at the time of her injury to stay and rely on them in the initial few days. However, that reliance came with the shock of an extreme loss of independence. This dependency, more than the injury itself, seems to be the main source of mental stress for her. A similar reaction would be likely in elderly people as increased difficulties brought on from aging make the independent life they were used to increasingly more difficult to maintain. 

As Ninoko went on to say, the stress of the incident was further compounded by the timing. The injury occurred close to the end of the year, meaning a limited number of hospital staff available to properly treat and diagnose her. While she was able to get a cast and painkillers for immediate treatment, it wouldn’t be until after the winter holiday that she would be able to see a specialist and find out the significant factor behind her ease of injury was osteoporosis.  

Ninoko did not spend her entire recovery with her parents in Gunma. After the holiday, she immediately went back to her home in Tokyo, where she lives alone, and went back to work. 

Audio 3: Work Experience 

As a professional, Ninoko is attempting to maintain the same level of independence and productivity at work as before the accident. This is being balanced against the limits of her disability as well as rehabilitation efforts. Naturally, the friction of adjusting to a new—albeit temporary—normal is a spot of friction and frustration. Moreover, the minimal expression of her situation, and the degree of her disability, has created a gap in perception between her and the rest of her team. Ninoko did mention that she had told her boss about the broken arm, but they did not offer any follow-up beyond that and Ninoko didn’t attempt to verbally clarify her difficulties. From her team’s point of view, the disability was invisible until she finally came into work and they could see the situation first-hand. Many disabilities, cognitive or otherwise, can remain hidden or unnoticed, and people possessing those disabilities have no obligation to confess to them.  

In line with the social model of disability, a theoretical model for disability that focuses on the impact and restrictions presented systemically or socially, the solution may be to reduce barriers to work or productivity within the environment that otherwise require a hidden disability to be “outed” in order to be taken seriously. In a business setting, flexibility in start times or creating an open, accepting environment are a few examples of best practices that can allow workers with disabilities to perform at parity with their non-disabled co-workers or reduce the pressure of expectations or fear of judgment. In Ninoko’s case, her company appears to allow some flexibility in working hours, as she is able to adjust her commute to off-peak times as well as make time for regular treatment. However, she had hoped to receive work that better suited her injury from her boss, rather than a tacit expectation she could work at normal capacity. 

Her situation better understood, the moderator asks her about the strategies she adopted to keep up with her work. 

Audio 4: Adaptive Tools 

Ninoko’s experience clearly shows the efficacy and potential for AI tools as assistive technology. For someone who acquires a disability, being able to convert an already familiar technology into an assistive tool is a major boon for reducing time taken to learn a new tool while potentially providing psychological security through a consistent item in an otherwise new lifestyle. With recent advancements in LLM innovation, both current models and future disability-specific models can be expected to create a new market and lessen any gap between those with and without disabilities in a traditional work setting. 

An area Ninoko did mention needing improvement was in her AI tool’s vocal recognition for Japanese. Japanese uses a relatively limiting phonetic range that results in several homophones (e.g. change, frog, and go home are all pronounced kaeru). When written, character usage helps support intended meaning but when spoken, the only assistance is through context, which current AI models struggle with. Clearer recognition of context, or more robust abilities to edit outputs via voice input would help improve AI tools’ assistive and accessibility functions in a Japanese context. 

It is worth noting that Ninoko was not recommended by a professional or co-worker to use AI as an assistive tool, but came to that conclusion on her own; even before asking her team for help. The moderator inquired further about that choice and her mental model. 

Audio 5: AI Before Co-workers 

“It’s really hard for me to rely on others and show my weaknesses.” 

Ninoko’s answer encapsulates a desire to preserve the same level of independence as she had before the injury. Her words also reveal an aversion to burdening others with her situation. Not just her co-workers, she hadn’t even told her friends about her injury until she met them in person. Her concern over others’ opinions and situations consequently caused Ninoko to remain silent at a time she arguably needed the most assistance. This reluctance to ask for help could be further pronounced in a Japanese work context, where people would be more wary of burdening the group with an individual issue. Regardless of cultural implications, for any person with a disability, the perceived societal pressure could potentially result in downplaying the disability or avoiding treatment, even if early treatment would be effective in mitigating or eliminating effects of the disability. 

Possible ways to combat this are regular check-ins with professionals, robust assistive tools and measures that can be utilized independently, and methods of contact and communication that are private or anonymous. The World Health Organization estimates about 1 in 6 people around the world are living with some kind of disability. This 16% face an increased risk to secondary conditions, such as obesity or depression, with many of the secondary and primary conditions being preventable. The main cause behind this increased risk are the inequities through social stigmatization and barriers to receiving proper healthcare and treatment. For UX and design, it is important to remember that any user can be disabled, even temporarily. It is thus the mission of accessible and inclusive design to account for the experiences of people with disabilities in creating a product or service that can be used and enjoyed by as many people as possible at the same level.  

Card-Sorting Activity: Changes Experienced in Private Life 

In the second half of the interview, moving away from the impact her injury had on work, Ninoko was asked to rate the changes in difficulty of items and activities or actions she commonly does in her day-to-day. For items, the most difficult ones to use were not necessarily the heaviest ones, but largely the ones that required both hands. A coat and a shoulder bag would naturally be difficult with an injury to the arm and shoulder. The wallet, Ninoko explained, was due to its structure as a trifold wallet. Keys, as well, were kept in a separate pouch that required two hands. 

Ninoko attempted several strategies to accommodate her disability. The shoulder bag, which normally holds most of the other mentioned items, she changed to carry on her right shoulder instead of her usual left. That still left the issue of having to set the bag down to retrieve any of the items inside it. She also considered switching to a handbag instead of a shoulder bag, but carrying a handbag meant her one good hand would not be able to do anything else. Ultimately, she decided to reduce her normal item load to just the essentials, removing things like lipstick or face mist to avoid increased time finding and retrieving items.  

For activities, Ninoko mentioned that most activities were significantly more difficult in the first two weeks after the injury. Similar to items, activities that required the use of two hands or a wider range of motion were rated higher in increased difficulty. Running was marked as impossible as her doctor forbid it or other exercise at the time due to the state of her arm and need for recovery. Ninoko mentioned that the main difficulty came in having to adjust herself to the action rather than being able to adjust the action to her. She elaborates below on her new experience and adjustments in cooking for herself. 

Audio 6: Cooking with a Mobility Disability 

The stress of her situation originates from a sudden adjustment of her habits to a new method. The early stages of a disability are the most stressful due to the sudden shift in a short amount of time. People with temporary disabilities may additionally feel hesitant to adopt adaptive strategies. Additional purchases or adaptive strategies for a person with a permanent or long-term disability have more value over time than any shifts or products that will become “obsolete” for short-term cases. This provides a unique challenge for inclusive design regarding temporary disabilities. Ideally, assistive products should retain their usefulness even after recovery. While attending to accessibility needs is vital in design, considering only accessibility cases risks excluding potential users without a disability from consideration. 

Key Take-aways and Conclusion 

As always, it should be noted that the above are insights from one individual speaking from personal experience and should not be taken as definitive evidence nor as representing the entire experience of a group. They can, however, point to areas for further research and exploration, and we at Uism are well-equipped to conduct such research with the level of detail and delicacy as necessary. Our experience in accessibility and medical research allow us to manage and administer research with integrity to all parties involved. Please feel free to reach out for a consultation, and look forward to our future exercises of research curiosity in the next episode of Chance Chats. 

Audio 7: Final Thoughts