Have you ever noticed how you don’t really notice some of the most important products in your life?
Like when's the last time you thought hard about how to use an elevator? Or a microwave? Or getting cash out of an ATM?
Exactly.
That’s not because those things are simple. It’s because their UX has been so refined, so well thought-out, and so thoroughly tested that you don’t have to think about them anymore. That’s the goal of great UX- not to be flashy, but to quietly get out of the way.
Let’s break down how some of these everyday interfaces became invisible through smart UX decisions and what today’s digital products can learn from them.
Elevators: From Manual Machines to Mental Models
The early days were kind of terrifying.
In the late 1800s, elevators required human operators. Riders didn’t fully trust them, and the interface was mechanical: pulleys, gates, and levers. You couldn’t just walk in and push a button. You needed someone trained to work it.
So how did we go from there to today, where kids ride elevators like it’s second nature?
Here’s what changed:
Push buttons (introduced in the 1940s) simplified everything. Just press the number of your floor. Done.
Audio cues and Braille made elevators accessible to people with disabilities, so the same experience could be shared universally.
Modern destination control systems in corporate buildings now assign elevators based on floor to optimize movement and reduce crowding.
Why we barely notice them now:
Everything about an elevator follows a rhythm. You walk in. The buttons are where you expect. It lights up. It beeps. You know it’s going to stop.
This predictability builds trust and once we trust something, we stop thinking about it.
Digital takeaway:
Predictable UX builds confident users. Don’t make people guess. Let them know.
Microwaves: From Mystery Machine to Everyday Hero
Remember early microwaves?
They had dials. No labels. You had to guess what “Power Level 7” meant. And “defrost” was a gamble.
So what changed?
The "Add 30 Seconds" button might be one of the most-used microwave features ever. It’s dead simple and goal-based. You’re hungry. You want to heat your food. Hit it once, or twice. Done.
Preset buttons like “Popcorn” or “Reheat” cut down decision-making. You don’t have to calculate anything.
The turntable added a simple feedback loop users could watch their food rotate, adding a feeling of control.
Why we don’t think about it anymore:
It feels obvious now. You use time as a language. You don’t need a manual. And the interface makes no assumptions about your technical knowledge.
Digital takeaway:
Build for what people want to do, not what the machine can do.
ATMs: The UX of Trust at Scale
ATMs were intimidating when they first launched in the 1960s. People received PINs via mail. The interaction was slow and clunky. But today? You barely flinch when you walk up to one in a foreign city.
Actor Reg Varney using the world's first cash machine at Barclays Bank, Enfield, north London on 27 June 1967.
What changed?
Clear, repeatable options- Withdraw, Balance, Deposit- reduced uncertainty.
Card-in-first flow gave structure and reduced step confusion.
Timeouts, cancel buttons, and confirmations added security and predictability.
Modern upgrades include:
Touchscreens instead of physical buttons.
Multilingual support.
Anti-skimming design: glowing card slots or inward suction to prevent theft.
Why don’t we even think about them?
You always know where you are in the flow. You know what comes next. And it always works the same way, everywhere.
Digital takeaway:
A simple flow repeated consistently builds user confidence even across different users, languages, and ages.
Airline Check-Ins: Turning Chaos Into Flow
Once upon a time, checking in for a flight meant standing in long lines with paper tickets and printed confirmations. There was no such thing as “seat selection,” and changes required face-to-face interactions.
What’s changed since then?
Self-service kiosks removed dependency on agents and let people check in faster.
Mobile boarding passes streamlined everything from alerts to scanning at gates.
Auto check-in for frequent flyers means you don’t even have to think about it anymore.
Other subtle improvements:
Seat maps that mimic the airplane layout.
Progress bars during check-in to reduce uncertainty.
Smart nudges: baggage options, visa prompts, vaccination rules.
Why does it feel so easy today?
The whole experience maps to the real-world journey: ID → Seat → Add-ons → Done. It mirrors what you need to do at the airport, not what the airline needs from its backend.
Digital takeaway:
When you reflect real-world behavior in your product flow, the experience becomes second nature.
Why You Don’t Notice These Anymore
Because everything about their UX was designed to remove thinking friction:
They anticipate what you want.
They reduce the number of choices.
They use feedback- lights, sounds, movement to confirm your action.
They default to what's most common (floor 1, 30 seconds, checking in at 24 hours).
They speak plainly- no jargon, just helpful labels.
And most importantly: they don’t fight you. They help you.
That’s the dream of great UX- to become so seamless, people forget it was ever hard.
What This Means for Today’s Product Teams
While digital products are newer than things like elevators and ATMs, the UX principles that make those old systems so reliable still apply today.
Start with clarity; each screen or panel should guide the user toward one clear action, not overwhelm them with five. Use feedback mechanisms like animations, confirmation messages, or subtle motion to let users know their actions were successful, just like an elevator ding or an ATM beep. Stick to predictable layouts so users can transfer familiarity from one section of your app to another.
Accessibility also shouldn’t be a nice-to-have, it should be built into your design from day one. That means readable fonts, proper contrast, keyboard navigation, and screen reader support. And finally, always design around user goals, not your backend logic. Show people what they want to do, not what your product is technically capable of.
These aren’t just nice-to-have UX principles. They’re the backbone of products people rely on every single day, often without even realizing it.
Final Thought: The Best UX Isn’t Flashy, It’s Familiar
You don’t need your users to say “Wow!” after every click. You need them to forget they clicked at all.
So when you’re designing your next product or feature, ask yourself:
Can a user figure this out without reading anything?
Will they know what comes next?
Can they do it without thinking too hard?
Because if they can?
That means you nailed it.
And someday, no one will notice it.
Just like elevators. Just like ATMs.
Just like all the best UX we never talk about because it just works.
At CometChat, we believe the future of AI agents lives in chat and the experience around the AI matters just as much as the intelligence behind it. When your users interact with an AI agent, they’re not evaluating its model, they’re judging how natural, helpful, and trustworthy it feels in the moment. That’s why we focus on building seamless, invisible UX for AI conversations. Clear message flows, instant feedback, smart fallbacks, and consistent design. So your AI feels less like a bot and more like a guide. Because when the chat feels effortless, the intelligence gets a real chance to shine.
Shrinithi Vijayaraghavan
Creative Storytelling , CometChat