Keynotes
Main Stage K6
Elaine Kasket: Too Much of a Good Thing
Product design has always involved understanding human behaviour and meeting human needs. The products we're designing now, however, have an unprecedented ability to directly tinker with our psychology. With such powerful products comes the responsibility to consider more deeply what good design looks like. Sometimes, in attempting to meet perceived or assumed needs, the net effect of a product is psychological brittleness, diminished capacity, and an undermining of what makes us human. Using grief bots and AI companions as case studies, cyberpsychologist Professor Elaine Kasket explains why well-intentioned, carefully designed products can be too much of a 'good thing.'