Microsoft Word - Adaptive mode

Inspiration

What inspired us was seeing how often people around us quietly fight with software. Some of us have friends or relatives with low vision or dyslexia who find Word overwhelming. Others have classmates who rely on captions or struggle with mouse-heavy interfaces. These weren’t rare edge cases — they were everyday people being excluded by design. We realized accessibility shouldn’t be a checkbox; it should be built into the core experience. That realization inspired Adaptive Mode.

What it does

Adaptive Mode makes Word simpler, clearer, and more accessible for every user — especially those with disabilities — by redesigning the interface to reduce clutter, increase clarity, and adapt intelligently to user needs.

How we built it

We began by interviewing and observing users with low vision, dyslexia, motor limitations, and Deaf/HoH users. We also evaluated Word’s existing accessibility tools and documented gaps like visual clutter, inconsistent alerts, and complex tool paths. This helped us define core pain points and accessibility barriers. We then began sketching multiple ribbon layouts simplified tool groups, larger icons, and increased spacing. We created early wireframes of the clean adaptive ribbon, the redesigned sidebar, and context-aware menus. We iterated quickly to find the balance between simplicity and preserving Word’s advanced capabilities. We finally used tools like Figma to we built detailed mockups of the Adaptive Ribbon, High-contrast icon sets, Adaptive context menus, Keyboard-first workflow screens, and the redesigned Copilot panel (text-first guidance).

Challenges we ran into

Word has hundreds of features. Simplifying the UI without taking away functionality — especially for power users — was a major challenge. We had to carefully decide what to surface, what to collapse, and what to make adaptive without oversimplifying.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We created high-fidelity prototypes of an entirely new Word experience — cleaner, simpler, and adaptive — without compromising the power users expect. This is a major accomplishment given Word’s complexity. We also identified real accessibility challenges faced by users with low vision, dyslexia, motor limitations, and Deaf/HoH needs — and translated them into concrete UI improvements, adaptive menus, and keyboard-first workflows.

What we learned

We learned that true accessibility can’t be “added later.” It has to be baked into the product from the foundation: navigation, interface structure, guidance, and workflows. Starting with accessibility actually led us to clearer, simpler designs for all users.

We learned that users with low vision, dyslexia, motor challenges, and hearing loss all have very different needs. What helps one group may overwhelm another. This pushed us to design an experience that can adapt — instead of trying to create a single universal layout.

What's next for Microsoft Word - Adaptive mode

Next, we plan to take Adaptive Mode into a focused beta phase, gathering feedback from users with diverse accessibility needs to refine the adaptive UI, improve contrast and spacing options, and enhance keyboard-first workflows. We’ll continue expanding personalization features, strengthening visual-first Copilot guidance, and validating performance across devices. With these improvements, our goal is to move toward a full Microsoft 365 rollout, bringing a smarter, cleaner, and more inclusive Word experience to millions of users.

Built With

• figma