Past, present, future

Motivation

Humanizing technology. A design manifesto.
What makes us human?

Our addiction to meaningless information? The way we lose ourselves in social media? Our relationships and communication, undermined by ubiquitous interruptions? The world we created, which now spies on us in the interests of advertisers? Of course not.

»We cannot have a society in which, if two people wish to communicate, the only way that can happen is if it’s financed by a third person who wishes to manipulate them.«
— Jaron Lanier

So what does make us human? I believe it’s our values: kindness, openness, creativity. I also believe that the very things that make us human should be embedded into the design of future technology. Technology should help us to unfold our potential. Distraction addiction, manipulation in online communication, loneliness in a connected world — all of these problems exist by design.

A toddler in a stroller, holding a mobile phone.
The way we currently

interact with connected technology gets in the way of our living up to our full human potential. Our interactions with technology often harm our creativity and our relationships with others — and with ourselves. We must strive for something better.

For the sake of our humanness, we must change how we design our interactions with technology. Design can help us create a more worthwhile future. Design is human thought, made material. It's the future, brought a little bit closer. Design lets ideas become reality.

That is what makes us human.

»We believed that human beings connected could create any future we could imagine.«
— Douglas Rushkoff
That is what gets me out of bed every morning.
Imagine.
Invent.
Inspire.
 
AKRONYM Unthinkable