What Sci-Fi Taught Me About Design, Ep. 4: Worf and the Angry User Problem
- Alex Dihel
- Jul 8
- 1 min read
Worf is a warrior.
He believes in honor, clarity, and hand-to-hand solutions.
He also spends a surprising amount of time visibly annoyed on the bridge.
And honestly? That makes him the perfect metaphor for frustrated users.
He’s not dumb.
He’s not being difficult for fun.
He just expects things to work the way his instincts tell him they should.
And when they don’t - he growls.
Most angry users aren’t trying to break your design.
They’re reacting to what feels like your design breaking them.
Here’s what we can learn from Worf:
🗡️ Listen for intent, not just volume
🗡️ Don’t meet frustration with defensiveness - meet it with clarity
🗡️ Show pathways back to control (and don’t bury them under three modals)
🗡️ Design for high-stress moments, not just ideal states
Good design doesn’t calm users with tone.
It calms them with options.
Because if a Klingon is confused by your interface, it’s not the Klingon’s fault.
