As we get more digital, we’re thinking more human
Humans and technology have evolved in lockstep since we figured out how to use tools in ways other animals couldn’t. Shaping arrow heads and making bows to shoot them with, lighting fire, the bronze axe. It’s called technogenesis. Which has also sparked the question of does technology shape us or do we shape technology? So far, there’s no agreed upon answer. A technology comes into being when we figure out a way to use a tool or tools, to harness a phenomena. Such as starting fires, or Information Theory and the rise of computing.
As a digital anthropologist, I play a role in helping companies develop digital products, mostly UX strategy, sometimes leading the charge and implementation, other times just doing field research through netnography. I’ve seen some rather interesting flops and some great ideas that were too far ahead of the market. Getting it right is extremely hard and involves a lot of very smart people who are very good at their specific area. And a lot of arguing (arguing is actually very healthy and ends up with better products.) Bringing a good digital product to market is a finely tuned orchestra practicing to deliver an outstanding performance.
What I’ve observed is that where once the technology drove the decision making and products were designed more for the company, they’re increasingly become designed not for the user, although we still call them that, but rather, for humans. It’s an exciting shift. It’s also very messy right now. The biggest challenge being enterprise software, which is often legacy and burdened with very large technology debt and not able to adjust to more nimble products or a better UX. The challenge for newer more human-friendly technology, is how to integrate with enterprise solutions such as ERP systems? It’s complicated.
They key element around why digital products, services and technology hardware is getting better for humans, is mental models. Humans are animals, it’s just that we’re extremely good at harnessing phenomena using cognition. And you cannot build good digital tools without understanding mental models, from behaviours through to decision making. While we often talk about the downsides of social media and the internet, smartphones and Artificial Intelligence, all of these technologies are based on diving deeper into the human psyche.
It is precisely because we are finding that sweet spot between how our minds work and how digital tools benefit us. Digital tools, Information Technologies, for that is what they are, enable humans to reduce the cost of connecting (friction), organise faster and use information and the knowledge generated from information, to solve problems.
Asa. result of digital tools, we can make better polymers, edit genetic code, create quantum computing, develop better batteries and begin to solve major problems such as climate change. The digital world is becoming the warp and woof of humanity. Like any technology, it is also a double-edged sword, they can be good and bad. Artificial Intelligence can help sole medical problems, but it is also riddled with racial and gender bias. Social Media can help us find long lost family and solve community problems, it can also cause mental health problems and gnaw away at democracies. But if history is anything to go by, we generally come out on top and society moves forwards. With some nasty bumps along the way.
The key however, is that we are thinking more human. We’re developing better methodologies around creating better digital products more focused on humans than, well, users. Perhaps now, and I think so, we are exploring more about what it means to be human because of digital technologies.
