Naomi Makowska’s most useful legacy is ethical. She forces designers to ask not "Can we make this faster?" but "Does this speed respect the user’s need to deliberate?" In an age of dark patterns and infinite scroll, Makowska champions the "slow interface"—tools that prioritize reflective choice over reflexive reaction. Her work serves as a necessary counterweight to the efficiency cult of tech, reminding us that the goal of a digital tool is not to erase the user’s labor, but to make that labor feel worth performing. For students of media, psychology, and design, to read Makowska is to understand that every interface is a mirror—and we must insist that it shows us not just our data, but our story.
Beyond her research, Makowska is an active member of the global academic community: naomi makowska