tech, humanised
Technology should make us more human, not less.
A warm, practical resource for keeping people — their dignity, attention and connection — at the centre of the tools we build and use. The good news: dehumanising technology is a choice, which means a more human one is always available.
what we mean
Tech is dehumanising when it treats a person as a number, a problem to be processed, or an attention source to be mined — instead of a human being to be served.
It rarely arrives as a villain. It shows up as the helpline with no human at the end of it. The score that decides your loan without explanation. The feed engineered to keep you scrolling past midnight. The shift app that pings you like a part in a machine.
None of that is inevitable. The same technology can be built and used to give people more time, more dignity, more agency and more genuine connection. That is the whole project here: noticing the difference, and choosing the human path on purpose.
three paths
Wherever you're standing, there's a way forward.
Whether you build technology, choose it for an organisation, or simply have to live with it, start where you are.
Know
Understand the risks
The quiet ways technology chips away at our humanity — and how to spot the patterns early, before they harden into the way things are.
Read the guide →Design
Build & adopt humanely
Practical guidance for designing, choosing and rolling out technology that respects the people on the other side of the screen.
Read the guide →Steady
Find your footing
Gentle, doable tips for when an app, system or service is wearing you down — small ways to reclaim your time, attention and calm.
Read the tips →a gentle gut-check
Signs a piece of tech might be dehumanising you.
Not a diagnosis — just a few honest prompts. If several feel familiar, that's worth listening to. You're not being dramatic, and you're not alone.
- There is no realistic way to reach an actual person when something goes wrong.
- A decision was made about you, and no one can explain how or why.
- You feel watched or measured in ways you never agreed to.
- You open an app to do one thing and leave foggy, drained, or worse about yourself.
- The tool seems built to keep you using it, not to help you finish and leave.
- You're treated as a "user", a "ticket" or a "case" rather than a person with a name.
Recognising it is the first humanising act. Next: find your footing →
from the writing
Start with these.
Plain-spoken pieces on the risks, the remedies, and the small daily moves that keep people human.
The quiet ways technology can dehumanise us
Six patterns to recognise — from being reduced to a metric to being processed by systems no one can explain — and why naming them is the first step back.
02 The remedyDesigning & adopting technology that respects people
Seven principles and a practical checklist for builders, leaders and buyers who want tools that add to people's lives instead of grinding them down.
03 For youFinding your footing when tech feels dehumanising
Kind, doable tips for reclaiming your attention, reaching a real human, setting boundaries, and choosing tools that treat you like a person.