There are second-order questions that designers should try to bring to light, even when the inertia of technological progress seems to dictate that rampant digitisation of services and human-to-human interaction can do nothing but good.
But every time we design systems that intentionally or unintentionally sever the small ways in which humans bond with each other, we erode the fabric of society.
Where technology tends towards atomisation, design can strive to recompose the conditions for discovery. The aim is not to return to some imagined past of analogue warmth, but to insist that every digital intervention retains a trace of the human hand. Heck, even the odd dose of clumsiness can be charming.
After all, cohesion is synonymous with stickiness. And a little friction can go a long way.
— Nathan Beck, digital product designer based in Amsterdam