Foundations of Humane Technology
Book #4 (not really a book)
Spring 2023
Foundations of Humane Technology Online course from the Center for Humane Technology
When I started this personal reading challenge, I initially thought that I’d prefer to read physical books. But, I soon realized that new information on design is more readily available in other formats. I like books because my eye balls need a break from screens. But, I did like the format of this free, self-paced online course. I was able to take a whole course while waiting for my kid to finish ice skating lessons and during lunch breaks.
Let’s start with the most important thing: this course fundamentally changed how I think about design. The course is aimed at people who build products—like google products, facebook, instagram, etc. I don’t generally design products, but I do design websites. And much of what is covered touches on website design.
Many of the topics brought up in this course I have considered as a consumer of media. Social media can steal your time. Your phone can be very distracting. You can spend way too much time on a phone. You can scroll infinitely, and infinity is all of your time. Media can exaggerate arguments.
I had a general idea of these problems. But, the course elaborated on the problems and followed up with a lot of data. Prior to taking the course, I didn’t think about it very hard. I had been generally trying to limit my time and my kids’ time on devices, social media. But, here’s a big view shift. Is it an individual’s responsibility to manage the media they consume? What responsibility do the creators of the media have in these social problems?
We know that digital products are causing real problems with mental health and in society. What can we do as a designer? In the work that I do, I can ask myself… am I treating my target audience ethically? Am I making them jump through a bunch of hoops to get what they want? Am I unnecessarily holding their attention?
Now that I’ve taken this course, I notice how some interaction design has contradictory ethics. For example, my elementary aged kids played a web based math game over the summer. They enjoyed the game and it helped them to continue praticing math. But, I could never get them to stop playing the game. The game was set up so that they would find a creature to battle. During the battle, they were given a series of math challenges to complete. If they were to stop in the middle of the battle, they would lose any work they had done and have to start over. So, although the web based game was meeting the expectations of practicing math in a fun way, it totally lost site of the whole child. Is the game encouraging addiction? Is the game encouraging a balance between screen use and other activites? Is the game setting the child up to have conflict with their parents? Is this game helping my child thrive? Could the game be set up so that it has built in stopping points - like after 3 battles, it leaves the child with a friendly message and says come back tomorrow? Could parents have some control – could a parent set the play time to 15 or 30 minutes sessions, and only 5 days a week? What are the goals of this game… is it to capture their attention endlessly? Are kids rewarded by playing more and more? Shouldn’t the goal be to practice math regularly, but not so much that it’s keeping them from playing, moving, interacting with family and friends?
So much to think about. I definitely recommend this course if you have any part in creating digital products and experiences.
You can learn more about this course here: https://www.humanetech.com/course