Time and Attention Well-Spent
As an industry, those who create things for the internet have gone down a path of stealing attention in the name of eyeballs on our creations. Your attention equals monetization in the form of ad revenue, in-app purchases, and all those kinds of things that, in the moment, may not seem like a big deal. But, in the aggregate, eat away at an ever larger part of your life.
Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve become increasingly interested in how designers can begin to apply some ethical thinking to how we treat each other’s valuable time. I like money as much as the next guy. In fact, I’m always on the hunt for clever ways that I can make more. But, I’m not interested in getting that money at the expense of someone else’s mental well-being.
I say well-being because that aggregate effect of eating away at your time and attention takes a toll. Take a good, hard look at yourself and your digital habits. We’re tired. We’re less connected to our families and communities. And the designers are to blame.
So, I’m interested in working more toward creating things that are useful while respecting one’s time and attention. Every design or content decision I make needs to go through that lens. I hope you agree.
Can we work together as a community to make this happen?
Originally published at jeremyfuksa.com, a newly-relaunched website that has been around for a very long time.
