Episode #126
The 250 Million Users Product Teams Ignore | Rebecca Rosenberg
Most products do not fail because nobody needs them; they fail because teams misunderstand who they are building for. In this episode of An Hour of Innovation podcast, Vit Lyoshin speaks with Rebecca Rosenberg, founder of ReBokeh, about building visual-first accessibility tools for people with low vision and what her work reveals about product adoption, overlooked markets, and user-centered innovation. Rebecca explains why low-vision users are often misunderstood, how ReBokeh helps people customize contrast, brightness, color, AI descriptions, and other visual adjustments in real time, and why accessibility can create measurable business value for museums, airports, sports venues, and digital products. You’ll Learn: * Why products struggle when teams build for the wrong user or market * How Rebecca’s own low-vision experience from albinism led her to start ReBokeh in college * Why most blind and low-vision people retain some usable sight and need more than audio-only tools * How ReBokeh uses augmented reality, AI features, and real-time visual adjustments * Why low vision is a much larger market than many investors and product teams assume * How inaccessible websites, museums, airports, and stores quietly lose customers * Why ReBokeh uses geofencing so partner locations can unlock the full app without extra hardware * How direct user feedback shapes the roadmap without turning into feature bloat * Why users with the same condition can need completely different visual settings * What Rebecca intentionally refuses to build, including features that would make ReBokeh less useful for low-vision users * Why AI-era product teams need clearer guardrails around what they will and will not ship Rebecca Rosenberg is the founder of ReBokeh, a company building accessibility technology for people with low vision. She started the company from her college dorm room after experiencing the lack of appropriate assistive tools for people who are not totally blind but still cannot rely on glasses or standard design assumptions. ReBokeh has users in about 115 countries and works with organizations including museums, aquariums, airports, and professional sports venues to make visual experiences more accessible. Timestamps 00:00 Introduction 01:04 Understanding Adoption Challenges in Technology 05:07 Rebecca’s Journey: Building ReBokeh 08:04 Innovative Accessibility Solutions for Low Vision 09:25 Market Size and Opportunities in Accessibility 12:26 The Importance of Education in Accessibility 19:51 User Feedback and Community Engagement 21:54 Personalization in Accessibility Solutions 24:56 The Importance of What Not to Build 28:06 Guardrails in Innovation 29:29 User Experience and Usability Challenges 31:23 Measuring Engagement and Success 33:50 Real-World Application of ReBokeh 37:01 Technological Foundations of ReBokeh 38:54 Future Visions for Low Vision Technology 40:57 Innovation Q&A Connect with Rebecca * Website: https://www.rebokeh.com/ * LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rebeccarosenberg020/ Connect with Vit * Substack: https://anhourofinnovation.substack.com/ * LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vit-lyoshin/ * X: https://x.com/vitlyoshin * Website: https://vitlyoshin.com/ Support the Podcast If you enjoy the podcast, you can support it by exploring the tools below. These are affiliate links, meaning the show earns a small commission at no extra cost to you. Kit: Email marketing that automates your growth. https://partners.kit.com/xqcc7ca2ahlm Google Workspace: A collaborative way of working in the cloud, from anywhere, on any device. https://referworkspace.app.goo.gl/A7wH For inquiries about sponsoring An Hour of Innovation, email iris@anhourofinnovation.com
