Legal Design and Human-Centered AI: Rethinking Law as a Usability Problem

Abstract

The intersection of legal design and artificial intelligence presents new opportunities and challenges for the usability of law. As AI systems increasingly mediate access to legal information and services, the clarity, accessibility, and user-centeredness of legal rules become paramount. This article argues that legal usability is not a marginal issue but central to the legitimacy and efficacy of law in the digital era. It conceptualizes “human-centered legal AI” through the lens of legal design, identifying how poor legal interface design undermines fairness, comprehension, and trust. By drawing from design thinking, cognitive science, and regulatory theory, the article outlines a framework for embedding usability principles in the creation and deployment of legal technologies. Case studies from e-government, legal chatbot interfaces, and access to justice platforms illustrate how design failures translate into legal exclusion. Finally, the article recommends institutional reforms to integrate legal design as a normative and technical requirement in AI-augmented legal systems.