Decompressed Design by Skylar Jessen, New York Decompressed Design by Skylar Jessen, New York

Can technology promote human-to-human interaction?

01 : 06 : 2017 Design : Digital : Technology

New York – Designer Skylar Jessen has designed a series of devices that help users to re-focus in an age of non-stop digital distraction.

While the rise of digital has opened up a world of possibilities, it has had a detrimental effect on consumers’ attention spans. Jessen’s devices examine how technology might be applied to capture the quality of face-to-face interaction.

The designer has created a smart lamp with an in-built microphone as part of his Decompressed Design project that disables smartphone notifications upon detecting a spoken conversation that lasts for more than 30 seconds, enabling the speakers to communicate without distraction. He has also designed a messaging app that mimics the transitory nature of real-life conversations by blurring old messages. Users are unable to switch out of their conversation and return to it later, encouraging them to focus on the task at hand.

‘Human relationships are rich, messy and demanding. And we clean them up with technology,’ says MIT professor Sherry Turkle. ‘When we do, one of the things that can happen is that we sacrifice conversation for mere connection.’

The Big Picture

  • As LS:N Global examined in our macrotrend The Focus Filter, consumers are living in an attention-based economy in which brands must work to re-engage consumers
  • Consumers are looking for products that help them to feel more, and brands are developing products that foster interpersonal connections. For more, see our macrotrend The E-motional Economy
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