Design Against Productivity
Why Our Secular Religion of Productivity Sits at the Root of Today’s Wellbeing Crisis
“You cannot not communicate,” Paul Watzlawick once famously said. Similarly, whatever designers put in the world influences others, for good or ill. As “software is eating” the world, technology companies have become increasingly aware of their impact and ethical responsibility, and begun to design digital products and services not just to serve instrumental needs, but to further the wellbeing of users. However, few of these initiatives engage in or foster any deliberation over what kind of wellbeing we should be striving for and why, instead of retaining a focus on reproducing a secular vision of ever-fitter, happier, and therefore more productive individuals. In this talk, I argue that our secular religion of productivity is at the root of today’s health and wellbeing crisis, and asks: What might a true technology of wellbeing look like?
