About the comfort economy and how we can be open to other alternatives

This is a speech I wrote for the Toastmasters course I’m in. I hope you enjoy it.

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Dus, klik op de fooienpod en laat me wat achter! Daar ben ik je enorm dankbaar voor!

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A little less easy please! The current industry is making it easier and easier for us to Do things. The comfort economy. But is comfort always the most desired behavior? For example.
The other day i was in the restroom and I just washed my hands. Automatically I grabbed a paper towel to dry my hands. You know, from one of those devices with a sensor. Kind of funny, because it was a real crappy camping, but they did have a towel dispenser with a sensor…

And then I thought, kind of a funny way to add technology to a device, where you can easily do it without one. I know it’s because people will only get one towel instead of many, but it is really easy to get one where you maybe won’t need any. From a user perspective it’s super nice because there is no easier way to get a towel handed to you than moving in front of a sensor. But is the user in this case the only stakeholder? what about the owner of the restroom? What about the environment? Those 2 stakeholders would want as little towels as possible used right? I would want that if I were them, I didn’t ask them.

We humans love these kind of solutions, because our brain has the task to spend as little as possible energy. It’s a real survivor. That’s why solutions that bring us more ease are so popular. Think about Apple pay or Uber. Their purpose is to let us consume more and move less!

As users we really like this on the one side, but on the other side we need to arm ourselves against the next episode that is automatically playing on Netflix. We WANT to quit after 1 episode, but it’s too much effort to press the stop button. In this case there is a cost for the good habit of watching only one episode. You would rather have a cost on a bad habit: walking all the way to the tv to play the next episode.

There’s 2 ways of looking at this:

We have a role in this as consumers, we must know how to make sure we live by our own intentions. Organize our tech in such a way that it doesn’t auto play, that we take a moment before purchasing something in an impulse. And that we set limits in scrolling for information.

But there is also a huge role for Software and technology companies in my opinion. How can you make sure that instead of just removing all the struggles a user has, you help the user to make better choices for him and his environment. Instead of automatically setting the default of sending notifications, think about whether a user really want this notification by default. Is it really worth to disturb him or could the user set specific notifications on when he wishes to?

I already have an idea how we can solve the issue with the towels in public bathrooms.

Imagine: you just washed your hands and move your hand in front of the sensor of the towel dispenser. The device suddenly says: you need to earn this towel! Show me a dance! If the device doesn’t signal any movement, you won’t get a towel. of course you can do other things as well like solving riddles or other kind of games. I can already see the social media campaigns: # do a dance for a towel

This way you lower the barrier for what is eventually the best for the user from environment perspective, not using a towel at all. Because if the user doesn’t really need a towel he just shakes his hands, dries the rest on his pants and leaves (which the device of course notices and makes a funny note)

This way a lot less towels are used, owner of the restroom happy, environment happy. The user that does really want a towel, does a dance, dries his hands and walks outside with a smile. Triple win I think

The reason why I’m so interested in humane technology is because for me it really brings two fields together: neuroscience and technology. In this podcast I tell you about the first moment I got this insight and what i’m planning to do with it

This is a speech I wrote for the Toastmasters course I’m in. I hope you enjoy it.

Or read the article:

this is a story about my passion, why it is important to me.

My oldest son turned 5 this weekend. The cliche really is true, they grow up so fast! I didn’t realize they are already so wise so soon and that raising him is teaching him about the world around us is fun, challenging and scary too sometimes. Teaching them how to behave when we are eating in a restaurant. To watch out before crossing the street. And for example, when playing outside and a stranger asks if you want to have ice cream with them, you don’t just go with them! You need to ask mom or dad first. They really need to learn to get sense of the world.

But nowadays we don’t just need to watch the physical world, there is a whole new world we need to watch too, our digital world. The first time I realized this I was listening to a podcast when my youngest was just born. It was about something they call virtual autism, delay of speech and social communication because too much screen time at a young age. The way we interact with technology can actually change the way our brain develops!! So there I was, sitting on th bus, having my eureka moment for myself! And all of the people around me had now idea why I had such a big grin on my face!!

It was such an eureka moment for me because my career path wasn’t one by the book. After my studies I did a phd in neuroscience, so I studied the brain a lot! Then I switched to IT, first development, now analysis. I’m actually have an influence now on the next generation of software that is used in schools all around Europe!
Technology is emerging so fast, we didn’t really got time to adjust to it. We don’t know the benefits or danger yet, like the stranger asking to come for ice cream.

This really got me thinking, how is the digital world impacting us? I started reading and learning about it, things like persuasive design, how technology is designed to keep us hooked. I experience this myself too, I love social media for example, connecting to people with the same interest, that I would otherwise never have met. I have severe shiny new toy syndrome: I love new gadgets and tools to work with online. But I also feel the stress of information overload and the feeling of being always on.

So I am focusing on 2 area’s right now. first of all, how to hack back. How can we manage all our digital devices and unplug and relax. and on the other side benefit from all of the amazing things they have to offer.

second of all, how can we make the technology of the future? Wat is the mindset we need to develop to make software so that humans can flourish. How can we make software more durable, both for us and the planet. So that it really helps us and not captures their attention and craves them wanting more.

So what started as a question how I wanted to raise my kids in this world surrounded with technology. Has grown to a passion to use and make software that really helps us be more human. I don’t know how to do it yet, the vision is still vague. What I do know is that I need to push myself a little to formulate that vision. Get all those feelings into words and combine it with science a little bit. And then be brave enough to tell my stories and become better at telling them. So here I am.