| UX/UI, Genetics and Learning in the Age of Screens! | | (Digital Education Meets the Biology of Human Brain) | | Dr. Pragya Khanna
Sitting at a local library, a college student in Jammu scrolls through a learning portal on his phone and sighs, “Sir, content toh hai… par samajh nahi aa raha.” Another student, sitting at another table quietly opens ChatGPT on his phone and says, “Chalo, iska answer yahin se likh dete hain.” Meanwhile, in my neighbourhood, a young mother to her son in primary school, “Aaj bhi homework baaki hai?” The son, “Haan, par samajh hi nahi aa raha.”
These and such small exchanges, are heard almost daily, unlocking a truth most of us often ignore, learning is not just about effort or discipline or having the books or digital content, it is about how the brain/mind is built. Two individuals can study the same material with equal sincerity, yet experience very different outcomes because their brains attend, absorb, and retain information differently. When we ignore this biological and cognitive diversity, we mistake difference for deficiency and effort for understanding, missing the real reason why learning feels natural for some and exhausting for others. In our society, the children are expected to learn in the same way, at the same speed, from the same books and screens. But biology tells us otherwise. Just as no two faces are identical, no two brains function in exactly the same manner.
Let’s look at it this way, in today’s times, there is a growing tendency to blend in rather than stand out. Cities have begun to look alike, houses follow the same designs/patterns, and even personal choices are shaped by popular trends and fashion statements. From the clothes we wear to the lives we display online, imitation often replaces individuality. In this rush, we sometimes forget that diversity of thought, taste and expression is what truly gives every individual its unique character. Yes, nature never intended uniformity. Genetics teaches us that we are all created differently, our features, temperaments, talents and ways of thinking are in unique combinations.
No two human brains are wired the same, just as no two fingerprints match. While society moves toward sameness, biology quietly celebrates diversity, reminding us that progress and creativity arise not from looking alike, but from honouring the differences nature has so thoughtfully designed.
As an academician, I am forced to pause and think in terms of UX/UI, Genetics, digital tools and human thinking, all intersecting in ways we are only beginning to understand. Genetics does not decide intelligence, but it strongly influences how intelligence works. Some brains process information quickly, others deeply. Some retain visuals, others sounds. Some can focus for long stretches, others learn best in short bursts. A child who fidgets in class is often labelled restless.
Another who takes time to respond is called slow. Yet both may simply be expressing their genetic wiring. Attention span, memory, stress response and even curiosity are partly inherited traits.
A teacher once remarked, “He knows the answer, but can’t write it properly.”
A parent replied, “At home, he explains everything perfectly.”
Both were right!
Modern digital education promises convenience, but convenience without understanding can become confusion. Students often say, “Video chal toh raha hai, par samajh nahi aa raha.” Or, “Sir, itna content ek saath de diya, dimaag bhar gaya.”
Yes! screens do not automatically make learning better. However, when digital tools respect genetic differences, they can become powerful allies.
As a student and researcher of Genetics for over two and a half decades, I began with modest formal exposure to computers, much like many students in our colleges across Jammu & Kashmir once did. What followed was more than twenty years of lived engagement with the digital world, shaped not by privilege or labels, but by curiosity, persistence, and self-learning. My journey reinforces a simple belief I wish to share with our students today: meaningful growth comes not from titles or shortcuts, but from patience, humility, and the courage to keep learning, especially in regions where access was earned, not given.
In my opinion, it all resides in UX/UI and begins with the brain. UX/UI (User Experience and User Interface), often discussed in the context of apps and websites. But at its core, UX/UI is about how the human brain experiences information.
For a moment, consider DNA as a long story book inside every cell, and genes as individual chapters in that book; your unique set of chapters make your own short story and that is your genotype. Crucially, the environment, sleep, nutrition, stress, social support changes how those chapters play out. The brain’s plasticity, a term we hear often, means these settings can adapt over time, and match how a person performs the best. In short, DNA provides the blueprint, but day-to- day experience and design determine which parts get built, strengthened, or softened. When we ignores this reality, learning becomes exhausting rather than engaging.
In many colleges across the Jammu region, students come from diverse backgrounds, rural and urban, English-medium and vernacular, first-generation learners and digitally fluent ones. Yet the system often assumes a uniform learner. Long lectures, text-heavy slides, fast-paced syllabi and complex digital portals are treated as “normal”. For some students, this works. For many others, it quietly fails.
A teacher once observed, “Class mein chup rehta hai, par exam ke baad bolta hai ki sab aata tha.” The student wasn’t uninterested. His brain simply didn’t respond well to this design of learning.
I have observed, some students across our Jammu colleges grasp concepts quickly but struggle to express them in writing. Others write beautifully but freeze during viva or presentations.
Some focus deeply at night; morning lectures feel like punishment. These differences are not flaws, they are expressions of cognitive diversity.
When UX/UI in education fails to acknowledge this, students begin to doubt themselves rather than the system. Now, let us understand this in terms of social media usage, its varied platforms and associated entertainment which is very much in vogue amongst all generations and all sections of the society. In terms of Genetics, think of it as a very loud, constantly blinking interface layered on top of that genetic instruction book I just described. Now, if DNA is the blueprint and genes are the dials on a mixing board, then social media keeps twisting those dials at high speed, all day long, that too more often in directions the brain was never meant to handle continuously. Now, when the mixing board is overstimulated, dozens of genes interact with the environment to decide how long we can concentrate and this environment repeatedly trains the brain to prefer speed over depth. Over time, the dials for ‘attention’ get nudged toward short bursts rather than sustained focus, not because genes changed, but because we are reinforcing only one mode of use.
Students nowadays remain engaged on the social media for long durations, even during night hours, their brain keeps receiving messages as “Stay alert. Don’t relax. Something new is coming.”
It struggles to keep itself active and alert all the time. This is useful in emergencies, but harmful when it becomes the default state. The brain is in developing state especially in adolescents like college students. During this period, the brain regions responsible for decision-making, self-control, planning, emotional regulation, and long-term thinking are still maturing, this constant alert mode can dampen genes linked to patience, reflection and emotional balance. In simple words, the brain starts living in notification mode. In turn, memory suffers when everything feels urgent.
When the brain is constantly interrupted, information rarely moves from short-term holding to long-term storage. Students often say: “Padha tha, par yaad hi nahi raha.” The issue is not intelligence. The issue is that the brain never got the stillness required to write memory properly.
We hear students often say: “PDF pe PDF aa jata hai.” “Platform samajhne mein hi time nikal jata hai.”
This is a classic UX failure! Digital learning should reduce mental load, not increase it.
When platforms are cluttered, instructions unclear, or content dumped without structure, the brain shuts down. Good UX respects genetics, it chunks information, offers clarity, allows pauses and gives students a sense of control. Digital tools have created an illusion, success without struggle.
Some students begin to believe that learning is about output, not understanding. Copy, paste, submit.
Marks become the goal; thinking becomes optional. In hostels, libraries and classrooms across Jammu, ChatGPT has quietly become a study companion.
“Isse answer mil jata hai.” “Time bach jata hai.”
But the brain does not develop through shortcuts. Genetics gives potential, but thinking strengthens it. When students rely excessively on tools, they risk weakening their own cognitive muscles. A senior professor remarked, “Students have answers, but no questions anymore.”
That should worry us all!
Genetics explains diversity. UX/UI translates that understanding into practice. Digital tools can either deepen learning or hollow it out, depending on how thoughtfully they are used. When learning respects the brain, students stop chasing shortcuts and start building confidence. And perhaps then, education will once again feel less like a race and more like a journey worth taking. |
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