Reducing the number of clicks is a misguided metric. A process with eight trivially easy clicks is better than one with two fraught, confusing decisions. Each decision burns cognitive energy and risks making the user feel stupid. The ultimate design goal should be to prevent users from having to think.

The Wright brothers' first plane required a 'full-body activity' to fly, with hip movements controlling wing tilt and a lever for pitch—a system compared to 'patting your head and rubbing your stomach.' The invention of the single joystick radically simplified this complex, non-intuitive interface, consolidating multi-axis control into one hand.

The team obsesses over perfecting the BCI cursor, treating it as the key to user agency on a computer. However, the long-term vision is to eliminate the cursor entirely by reading user intent directly. This creates a fascinating tension of building a masterwork destined for obsolescence.

All tools are fundamentally decision-making aids. A great tool, like a color picker, isn't just about precision; it's about providing a quick feedback loop to compare options and a safety net (like undo) to explore changes without fear. This allows users to dial in their choices effectively and without destructive consequences.

A "frontier interface" is one where the interaction model is completely unknown. Historically, from light pens to cursors to multi-touch, the physical input mechanism has dictated the entire scope of what a computer can do. Brain-computer interfaces represent the next fundamental shift, moving beyond physical manipulation.

Open-ended prompts overwhelm new users who don't know what's possible. A better approach is to productize AI into specific features. Use familiar UI like sliders and dropdowns to gather user intent, which then constructs a complex prompt behind the scenes, making powerful AI accessible without requiring prompt engineering skills.

Products like a joystick possess strong "affordance"—their design inherently communicates how they should be used. This intuitive quality, where a user can just "grok" it, is a key principle of effective design often missing in modern interfaces like touchscreens, which require learned behavior.

With AI, designers are no longer just guessing user intent to build static interfaces. Their new primary role is to facilitate the interaction between a user and the AI model, helping users communicate their intent, understand the model's response, and build a trusted relationship with the system.

The dual-stick controller design has been functionally stable for nearly three decades, suggesting it is a 'peak interface' for 3D navigation. This reliability and widespread familiarity are precisely what allowed for its adoption in high-stakes fields like remote surgery and military operations, as the interface itself was a solved problem.