Calm tech: Design that calms and informs
What started as a concept dreamed up in the lab at Xerox PARC twenty years ago has been developed into a modern theory about how users experience and interact with technology. We take a look at the definition of Calm tech and what impact it could have on the future of design.
In a rather prophetic forecast about how life in the digital era would look, Mark Weiser, former chief technology officer at Xerox’s Palo Alto Research Center (PARC), wrote that “The scarce resource in the 21st century will not be technology. It will be attention.”
Indeed, in the era of ‘ubiquitous computing’, as he so-called it, technology is ever-present. Our phones have become our trusty counterparts that accompany us everywhere. They buzz and beep, sending out signals to be noticed immediately, enrapturing us in a digital world from which we can’t escape.
As tech becomes decidedly more intrusive, a movement to combat its more sinister effects has begun to emerge.
What is calm tech?
Weiser and fellow researcher John Seeley Brown first introduced the concept of calm technology in an article published in 1995.
Technology, in their view, should be useful, accessible, and ultimately, unobtrusive. It should be an “invisible tool,” one that “does not intrude on consciousness,” or seek to dominate the attention of its user.
These principles have been further explored by Amber Case, a self-described cyborg anthropologist and calm tech research pioneer. Her website outlines the eight essential principles of calm technology, offering a template for designers in the throes of developing new products.
The premise of calm tech is to make technology as minimally-invasive as possible. It is an approach to design where the interaction between the technology and its user can occur within the user’s periphery, rather than at the center of their attention. Information from that technology can move in and out of a user’s attention when it is needed but otherwise stays calmly in their periphery.
An example of an item of technology which is consummately “calm” is a kettle. It does not seek to dominate our attention — rather, it works away in the background and alerts us only when it is ready with a friendly click or a whistle. The design of the kettle is intuitive. Its simple mechanism allows us to spend less time working out how to use it and more time addressing the tasks in our day that matter.
With its potential to transform the way people interact with technology, calm tech is beginning to pique the interest of a growing number of companies — particularly those that have been under scrutiny for their attention-grabbing devices.
Designing calm technology
A growing number of companies are incorporating calm principles into their products in an effort to inspire productive, rather than compulsive, interactions with technology.
Berlin-based manufacturer Blocc, for example, has created a powerful smartphone with a minimal design, built to simplify communication and maximize productivity. It boasts a lean operating system and long battery life that doesn’t alert its user with bells or whistles.
The block tiles on its interface showcase key information from each app, without having to open them individually. Thus, information is communicated swiftly and effectively, reducing the amount of time its users usually spend scrolling. Blocc’s promise: “Regain control of your smartphone.”
Even more radical is the simplified mobile phone from Punkt. Stripped of fancy, attention-grabbing applications, this phone only has two functions: calls and text messages. With its sleek design aimed at producing clarity and focus, Punkt is about “using technology to help us adopt good habits for less distracted lives,” said Founder Peter Neby.
Apple is also starting to recognize the rather sinister effects of tech intrusion on our mental health and is taking steps to improve it. Screen time — an application that can be installed on the iPhone — is designed to limit the number of hours users can spend glued to a screen by closing down apps at a scheduled time of day. Apple consequently offers its users the gift of temporary digital disconnectedness.
Moreover, an appropriately named publication called “The Disconnect” can only be viewed when the reader is offline. Simply turning off your internet connection allows you a moment of quiet to immerse yourself in its digital pages of commentary, fiction, and poetry.
Incorporating calm into company operations
Mark Weiser’s warning of the increasing scarcity of attention in a digital world has been the basis for companies fashioning a more human-centric approach to product design. Google, to name one, are beginning to address the attention deficit of many modern tech users through initiatives such as Digital Wellbeing.
The initiative aims to help users “better understand their tech usage, focus on what matters most, disconnect when needed, and create healthy habits for the whole family” through a number of UX tweaks which have been informed by calm technology principles.
A new feature on Youtube reminds users to “take a break” from endlessly watching videos and provides them with information on how much time they are spending on the site.
It also tries to reduce interruptions by enabling users to turn off push notifications and disable vibrations and sounds. Windows 10’s Focus Assist feature functions much in the same way in order for individuals to minimize digital distractions.
Moreover, the Microsoft Design team are endeavoring to put “technology on a more human path” by incorporating ‘calm’ into their Inclusive Design toolkit. According to Amber Case, who consulted on Microsoft’s strategy for accessibility and inclusivity, the guide introduces “a reframing of the concept of disability, how user experience intersects with the goals of inclusivity and an overview of permanent, temporary and situation exclusions.”
Microsoft’s aim for future design revolves around making products more simple, easy to use and more adaptable to the personal needs of the customer.
It’s possible, however, for companies to incorporate calm principles into their operations without the need for consultants or complex strategy.
In a recent team retreat hosted in Lisbon, the Startup Guide team discussed ways in which colleagues could communicate more effectively with each other while stationed in different countries. With an overloaded Slack channel, important information was getting lost amidst a barrage of messages that were quite often unrelated to a specific person’s work. Team members were muting notifications and participating less and less in meaningful interactions.
Revising our use of messaging, including creating channels for specific teams and contacting people directly by phone in urgent circumstances, created less noise and more productivity for the Startup Guide team. A simple, yet effective, way of creating calm.
The future for calm tech: design that calms and informs
Understanding the need for us to command technology, rather than be commanded by it, is an integral part of the Calm tech philosophy.
Amber Case calls for the creation of products that protect our attention, and allow us to recapture our sense of purpose and identity as humans. As she said in a Ted talk titled, ‘We are all cyborgs now,’ “Machines shouldn’t act like humans, and humans shouldn’t act like machines.”
So how can entrepreneurs use ideas surrounding calm tech to create products for the future?
Designing calm technology means helping users reduce their reliance on the digital. Tech should become a way to supplement human life, rather than dominate it. Products should solve a problem, nothing more, using the minimum amount of technology. They should be easy to use, accessible, and non-disruptive. They should respect privacy and allow for anonymity. Ultimately, they should be mindful of their user’s mental wellbeing.
But it’s not just product makers that need to think about calm. It’s us, the consumer. We too have a responsibility to exhibit more self-control when it comes to interacting with technology.
Snoozing notifications is just one simple way of reducing the time spent wading through a sea of digital detritus. Embarking on a project that uses less technology and more human capacity is another way to reduce reliance on automation. Simply connecting with other human beings, with phones tucked nicely away in our pockets, is a way to reconnect with the real world.
Read more from Startup Guide, here.
