Compared to the past we feel more and more stressed and isolated due to the continuous daily inputs. Today we are in the information age and technology should be so well integrated into our lives that it is practically imperceptible. Technology aspires to bring out the best in devices from humanity.
The "calm technology" theory was first published in the article "Designing Calm Technology", written by Mark Weiser and John Seely Brown in 1995. The concept had developed amongst researchers at the Xerox Palo Alto Research Center in addition to the concept of ubiquitous computing.
Calm technology or Calm design is a type of information technology where the interaction between the technology and its user is designed to occur in the user's periphery rather than constantly at the center of attention. Information from the technology smoothly shifts to the user's attention when needed but otherwise stays calmly in the user's periphery. Mark Weiser and John Seely Brown describe calm technology as "that which informs but doesn't demand our focus or attention." The use of calm technology is paired with ubiquitous computing as a way to minimize the perceptible invasiveness of computers in everyday life.
For a technology to be considered calm technology, there are three core principles it should adhere to:
- The user's attention to the technology must reside mainly in the periphery. This means that either the technology can easily shift between the center of attention and the periphery or that much of the information conveyed by the technology is present in the periphery rather than the center.
- The technology increases a user's use of his or her periphery. This creates a pleasant user experience by not overburdening the user with information.
- The technology relays a sense of familiarity to the user and allows awareness of the user's surroundings in the past, present, and future.
Our world is made of information that competes for our attention. What is necessary? What is not?
Equally important is the design of communication. How many are notifications are necessary? How and when should they be displayed? To answer this, we can be inspired by the principles of calm technology.
We asked at the "Designing Calm Technology" workshop in Rimini what it means design for a digital wellbeing, we asked them to redesign an object in their homes, a washing machine.
We have create a Workshop Kit, with the exploration of Amber Case about theme:
