Kyle Adams POV

Tag: design

  • Stories That Design the Future: The Hero’s Journey and the Next Phase of Visual Storytelling

    Image Source: Created by CoPilot


    Storytelling is the most crucial component of visual design, captivating any audience. Leveraging the hero’s journey as a blueprint for visual design and storytelling is a tried-and-true method that we’ve seen succeed in cinema, novels, and advertising. Using the hero’s journey, you can win the hearts, minds, and wallets of anyone. Before diving into granular details like unpacking the psychology of narratives, explaining the applications in visual storytelling, covering use cases in UX and design thinking, examining a few brand case studies, and considering the future outlook of the role of the hero’s journey, let’s start with defining what this framework actually is.


    Framework

    Source: USC Viterbi



    The Hero’s Journey Framework can be traced back to “The Hero with a Thousand Faces,” a book published in 1949 by Joseph Campbell. This is a universal story structure found in myths across cultures spanning generations. The journey typically involves three stages:


    1). Separation: The hero leaves their known world, called for adventure.
    2). Initiation: The hero faces a series of challenges. Meeting allies, mentors, and enemies along the way.
    3). Return: The hero comes back to their known world with a tangible treasure, new knowledge, or something to benefit their world.

    How to Use the Hero’s Journey as a Design-Thinking + Foresight Tool articulates the power of the hero’s journey perfectly. “This circular pattern has proven time after time to fulfil a promise of a new and exciting world that challenges us and changes us at our core. It’s the type of adventure everyone dreams about.” (Zaidi – Module 2)

    There’s a reason why the hero’s journey is one of the most popular storytelling formats, that is so prolific and exactly why we’ve seen it leveraged as a blueprint for visual design. Disney, one of the most valuable IPs globally, worth about $200 billion, has built a framework using the hero’s journey, which they’ve used for hundreds of films. It looks like this: “Once upon a time… And every day… Until one day… And because of that…  And because of that… And because of that… Until finally… And since that day… The moral of the story is… (Shopify).

    Now that we understand what the hero’s journey framework is and how it creates success, let’s examine the psychology of narratives to understand why humans respond to story arcs.

    Image Source: Shopify



    Psychology of Narrative Structure

    Source: Lifehacker


    Crafting narratives engages audiences through storytelling, emphasizing emotional engagement, cognitive biases, and reasoning, making people respond to story arcs far more than to raw data. The hero’s journey applies here because businesses frame their target audience as the “hero” and position themselves, the communicator, as the “mentor.” This is one of the best ways to bridge the gap between narrative psychology and design thinking. Crafting Compelling Narratives: Factors for Effective Message Delivery in Accounting published in the CPA Journal, proves this by unraveling the psychological impact of using a narrative structure that leverages the hero’s journey in the world of accounting.


    “The accountant’s role as a mentor is to guide the audience through accepting this initial finding and leading them on the journey of discoveries. By the time rising insight #1 is presented, the audience (“hero”) is navigating unfamiliar territory, encountering allies and adversaries (e.g., those who supported and opposed the equipment upgrade).”


    Stories go beyond entertainment. Stories are the backbone that builds emotional engagement and improves memory retention through the narrative structure and neural mechanisms. Reading fiction activates neural networks and emotion-processing regions of the brain, unlike other forms of visual design. The Science of Storytelling: How Fiction Shapes the Mind, an article by Psychology Today, explains this in the following way:


    “For example, the brain’s mirror neuron system, which plays a key role in empathy, responds to characters’ experiences as if they were our own. This suggests that fiction is not merely make-believe—it is a kind of cognitive simulation that allows us to practice social and emotional skills in a low-risk environment.” (Psychology Today)


    Designers, product managers, and marketers who understand the psychological impacts of the narrative arc are the ones who lead companies and brands that create products and services that leverage the hero’s journey to take storytelling a step further. Beyond understanding the psychological impacts, there are specific strategies people in these roles implement. Strategies within visual design that lean into metaphors and campaigns to personify brands.


    Applications in Visual Storytelling (Advertising & Branding)

    Image Source: amplifi


    First impressions are everything. Before anyone speaks or reads something, we start forming an opinion based on what we see. Initial impressions play a big role in how we experience the world. So much so to the point that humans process visuals 60,000 times faster than text and 93% of communication is nonverbal. (ResearchGate – Module 6). The digital-first world and evolution of technology are dramatically shaping how people want to engage with all of this. Before we look at a few specific brands and how they apply visual storytelling to build narratives and tie back to the hero’s journey, it’s important to understand the four core principles of visual storytelling. (amplifi – Module 1)


    1). Authenticity: Keep it real.
    2). Sensory: Hit the feels
    3). Relevancy: Bring it close to home.
    4). Archetypes: Casting your characters.


    All of this is to say that visual storytelling isn’t simply pretty pictures and text display. Visual storytelling is crafting a compelling narrative that connects with a core target audience emotionally and culturally. Best-in-class brands globally understand this and rely on emotional engagement to drive consumer decisions and build brand loyalty. For example, the beauty brand Dove celebrated its 60th anniversary by launching a campaign called #RaisetheBeautyBar, asking women to pledge to redefine beauty for themselves and young girls to challenge preconceived notions about attractiveness. (Time Magazine). This campaign, contrasted with typical beauty ads that rely on idealistic standards, exemplifies Dove’s commitment to authenticity and positioned the brand to succeed.

    Image Source: Time


    Another visual storytelling principle Dove used in this campaign is archetypes. As we know with the hero’s journey, consumers relate to characters they can see themselves as. The most memorable stories are the ones with characters the audience can identify with. For Dove, that was positioning itself as a caregiver archetype, empowering women, and being a proponent of self-esteem.


    Brands that craft campaigns to position the four principles of visual storytelling at the forefront and understand how to build a narrative that ties back to the hero’s journey with archetypes, authenticity, relevancy, and by hitting you in your feelings, are what create a best-in-class brand that’s memorable and prolific globally. In addition to advertising, these brands also apply visual storytelling to their user experience and design thinking. Let’s see how.


    Applications in UX & Design Thinking

    Image Source: thoughtbot


    The smoothest user experiences in design know how to bridge the gap between how people perceive and how designers communicate with intent to their target audience. Perception can be explained by Gestalt theory, the idea that the entirety of something is more important to our understanding than individual parts. Our mind interprets visual elements in principles including similarity, continuation, proximity, figure-ground, etc. (Thoughtbot – Module 4).


    These Gestalt principles aren’t just to make interfaces prettier; they actually intentionally organize attention, influence user action, and give meaning to design in interactive systems. Examining evidence from minimal UI games, including Journey and Inside, supports this claim. Getting granular, you can choose specific Gestalt principles to better understand this.


    “Moving on to Inside’s gameplay, the principle of similarity can be found in environmental elements such as crates, levers, or carts. They have a similar texture, shape, and contrast, and are often distinguished from the background by subtle lighting or edging. The player quickly recognizes that elements with this appearance can be moved or used to solve puzzles.” (ejournals)


    Infusing storytelling in UX with brief human-centered narratives creates an opportunity to present designs in context. Following this method of screen-by-screen walkthroughs makes it easier to get stakeholder buy-in. Research company NN/g explains how to craft a UX story:

    Image Source: UX Collective


    1). Establish a character & goal (who, what they’re trying to do)
    2). Context & constraints (environment, time pressure)
    3). Conflict (pain points)
    4). Design intervention (how the interface supports resolution)
    5). Outcomes & metrics (desired behavior, success signals)


    This six-step bulleted checklist enables designers to create a storyboard of an end-to-end task that demonstrates the UX decisions made and every Gestalt cue in each storyboard frame (NN/g).


    After drafting these initial UX stories, there’s an opportunity to operationalize all of this with design thinking sprints. Following the iterative process of design thinking, designers can define and ideate to translate pain points into patterns that follow Gestalt principles, prototype mockups focused on proximity, similarity, etc., can complete validation by running task-based tests, and communicate any findings as a UX story that’s rooted in measurable outcomes.


    Critical Analysis

    Image Source: Medium


    There are table stakes benefits for why you should use narrative frameworks. A few that come to the top of mind are the positive emotional engagement, seen when using the hero’s journey and visual storytelling, which improves memory and persuasion too; narrative frameworks create clarity and structure, which provides a clear arc for campaigns, and have interdisciplinary functionality, as seen in UX, advertising, and other areas of a brand.


    Joseph Campbell’s hero’s journey is a prolific framework, but whether it’s universal for everything is up for debate. Looking at theme parks as an example, there are noticeable aspects that borrow stages of the hero’s journey but outgrow the 12-step arc. Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser is a tangible example where guests create their own fragmented personalized stories instead.


    Immersive protagonists – exploring the notion of the ‘hero’ in theme parks, an article published by Gröppel-Wegener, Alke, introduces a strong counterpoint to the assumption that the hero’s journey always applies. A woman named Margaret Kerrison, who has worked as a story lead on immersive projects around the world, proves that modern immersive storytelling prioritizes agency over passive observation. Kerrison offers an idea she calls emotional anchors instead of Campbell’s hero’s journey.


    “These emotional anchors or ‘plot points’ keep the story moving forward in an emotionally engaging way. They keep the audience’s interest to discover and explore further. Like a movie or TV script, it propels the story forward, but unlike a movie or TV script, the protagonist is your audience. Your audience will choose what they want to experience next, so building these emotional anchors is vital to your experience.”


    This is an interesting take to support the idea that the hero’s journey is a great starting point, but it isn’t a one-size-fits all solution for UX, branding, or immersive design.


    Something we can’t lose sight of is the balance of narrative manipulation contrasted with authentic engagement. Ethical narratives need to balance emotion with honesty to build trust among target audiences. A first step to do this is to avoid imposing the hero role on audiences without consent. Narrative Spin, a content marketing consultancy, wrote a great article detailing the pitfalls of ethical marketing.


    “The problem isn’t emotionally powerful stories but truthiness. When you write: a polished testimonial that skips the struggle, a founder origin story scrubbed too clean, a rags-to-riches narrative propped up by fantasy, not fact. These examples are about curating belief in a way that controls instead of resonates. In other words, these examples are not about connecting.” (Narrative Spin).


    Narrative Frameworks in AR/VR and AI-Driven Design

    Image Source: Visual Storytelling Institute


    Visual storytelling is headed in a direction that goes beyond a one-dimensional campaign and static UX flows. Technology is creating capabilities with AR/VR and AI to introduce dynamic and adaptive narratives that are evolving traditional frameworks like the hero’s journey. AI specifically is creating personalized storytelling with content that changes based on user behaviors, the context of the environment, and predetermined preferences.


    A study evaluating a visual narrated storytelling concept to improve users’ understanding of explanations from an AI assistant unravels how to make this type of decision-making more transparent. It focuses on how trust and understanding depend on how explanations are framed and delivered.


    “In operational settings, explanations should be available only when the user actively seeks clarification about the AI system’s output. Findings from the study show that fixed-timing delivery, while useful for experimental control, may disrupt workflows and cognitive flow in real-world operations. Participants expressed a clear preference for being able to access explanations when needed, rather than having them appear automatically.”


    This directly supports the idea that depth needs to adapt to user expertise, task urgency, and cognitive state. Personalization, especially with AI, isn’t just about the substance of the content. It’s about timing, modality, and the control people have as users. Personalization needs to clarify AI and amplify its capabilities if we are to harness it in a way that advances visual storytelling to resonate with people and use the hero’s journey framework in ways we never have before.

    Conclusion

    Image Source: ELM Learning



    Humans crave narrative and visual storytelling that leverages the hero’s journey as a framework to improve engagement, comprehension, and trust for brands. The hero’s journey is just one framework that provides structure for UX flows, branding, and immersive experiences to position people as the hero themselves so they can take the relatability of storytelling to the next level.


    In an era of AI personalization, and technology like AR/VR that can feel cold and emotionless, it’s more critical now than ever for designers, product managers, and marketers to guide people in a way that gives them agency and prioritizes emotional connection. Visual storytelling done right is a competitive advantage. Prioritizing it is a non-negotiable for brands if they want to cut through the noise in our world of fragmented attention.


    The most challenging thing right now that’s currently stopping brands is emerging technology. Now more than ever, it’s necessary to use narrative mapping in UX sprints, apply archetypes and emotional anchors in branding, combine gestalt principles with story arcs for intuitive navigation, and explore adaptive storytelling using AI-driven personalization and new technology.


    The future of visual storytelling will belong to the designers who understand how to create experiences that feel like stories worth living. Integrating narrative frameworks is no longer optional; it’s the next phase of human-centered design. Design as we know it is changing, but at its core, it will always be what separates mediocre brands from best-in-class companies.


    Brands that lean into this technology and leverage the hero’s journey in their visual storytelling will win the hearts, minds, and wallets of their target audience. The future for brands is limitless if they keep a pulse on what’s coming next and what will never go out of style.


    Works Cited


    Winter, Dayna. “Storytelling in Branding: How to Craft a Story That Sells in 2025.” Shopify, 10 Mar. 2025, http://www.shopify.com/blog/brand-storytelling.



    Subramaniam, Aditi. “The Science of Storytelling: How Fiction Shapes the Mind.” Psychology Today, Sussex Publishers, 17 Mar. 2025, http://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/parenting-from-a-neuroscience-perspective/202503/the-science-of-storytelling-how-fiction.



    Cooney, Samantha. “Dove Wants Women to Redefine Beauty.” Time, Time, 10 Jan. 2017, time.com/4629671/dove-raise-the-beauty-bar/.




    Gibbons, Sarah. “UX Stories Communicate Designs.” Nielsen Norman Group, 15 Jan. 2017, http://www.nngroup.com/articles/ux-stories/.



    Matero, Johanna. “What Ethical Storytelling Really Means in Marketing.” Narrative Spin, 24 Aug. 2025, http://www.narrativespin.com/ethical-storytelling-in-marketing/.




    Zaidi, Leah. How to Use the Hero’s Journey as a Design-Thinking + Foresight Tool | by Leah Zaidi | NYC Design | Medium, 4 Sept. 2018, medium.com/nyc-design/how-to-use-the-heros-journey-as-a-design-thinking-tool-c4901be5ce.


    Montalto, Mike. “The Four Principles of Visual Storytelling.” Amplifi, 25 Jan. 2024, amplifinp.com/blog/4-principles-visual-storytelling/.


    Bonner , Carolann. “Using Gestalt Principles for Natural Interactions.” Thoughtbot, 23 Mar. 2019, thoughtbot.com/blog/gestalt-principles.



    Sidgman, Juergen, and Nathan V. Stuart. “Crafting Compelling Narratives.” CPA Journal, vol. 95, no. 7/8, July 2025, pp. 54–61. EBSCOhost, research.ebsco.com/linkprocessor/plink?id=5c24806e-8c3e-33f0-b54e-b20699915eb9.



    Godek, Aleksandra. “Applying gestalt principles to User Experience Design in computer games.” Zarządzanie Mediami, vol. 13, no. 3, 20 July 2025, p. 183, https://doi.org/10.4467/23540214zm.25.017.22235.



    Gröppel-Wegener, Alke. “Immersive protagonists – exploring the notion of the ‘hero’ in theme parks.” Media Practice and Education, vol. 25, no. 2, 2 Mar. 2024, pp. 137–148, https://doi.org/10.1080/25741136.2024.2324089.



    Basjuka, Jekaterina, et al. “The Design and Evaluation of a Visual Narrated Storytelling Concept to Improve End Users Understanding of Explanations from a Conceptual Ai Assistant.” Behaviour & Information Technology, Dec. 2025. EBSCOhost, https://doi.org/10.1080/0144929X.2025.2596891.




  • Between Chaos and Calm: The Intersection of Stillness

    Amid the business of everyday life, when attention feels scattered, there are still moments when time slows down, and you start to see specific patterns. Between the errands you have to run and your daily rituals that act as an escape, the noise eventually becomes a quiet pause, giving you space to be present and wonder.


    Abrupt Endings

    Caption: A game finished before it could even start. You can feel the pulse of the city in each step you take on the sidewalk.


    Repetition Finds Rhythm

    Caption: Walking alongside a corridor of expression. Color fills this path and there’s a rhythm everyone follows on this walk.


    It’s The Real Thing

    Caption: This is a mural that remembers. It’s seen people across eras and all weather you can think of. But despite the passing days, this is where stories started.


    A Crafted Pause

    Caption: The aroma of caramel and chocolate overpower you with the first warm sip and you are able to return to a single breath in this moment.


    Rituals are Priceless

    Caption: A set of instructions on how to experience joy one bite at a time.


    Precision Meets Perfection

    Caption: Readiness is traced in stripes and movement is waiting.

    Finding Calm in The Perfect Escape

    Caption: A moment away from sirens, car horns, and laughter. All you can hear is the crunching of the ground.


    Savoring Every Bite

    Caption: A sweet sugary delight. With every bite you take a breath of fresh air.


    Just Keep Swimming

    Caption: Light is radiating from the ceiling above as patterns emerge above you following their own path.


    A Quiet Flame

    Caption:The journey ends not in silence, but through signals that offers a different type of serenity.


    The goal of this photo essay is to illustrate how everyday rituals and the environments that surround us may appear to be full of disorder, but the reality is there’s an aspect of calm in all of them. Starting with 100 photos, narrowed down to just 10, the photos you see were chosen because of their strong focal points, contrasting environments, and smooth overarching narrative coherence that’s rooted in visual diversity.  


    The sequencing of the photos is designed to tell a narrative arc that starts with urban chaos, moves to daily rituals, transitions to play in dynamic places, and ends at home calmly.  


    Between Chaos and Calm: The Intersection of Stillness, curates a selection of photos that demonstrate visual storytelling concepts like storyboarding, utilizes Don Norman’s Emotional Design Framework in several images, and taps into gestalt principles.


    From Street Marks to Pictorial Storytelling


    Storytelling is used in design to help customers emotionally connect with a product or service through a narrative. Five Steps To Design Your Product with Powerful Storytelling by Chiara Aliotta outlines the importance of the hero and their journey, identifies what the problem is, and showcases the transformation that design solves. The photo essay and its 10 images mirror this structure. The “hero” who is the viewer in this case is experiencing bits and pieces of urban life and rituals. The “problem” is the chaos and overstimulation that’s overwhelming in day-to-day environments. Lastly, the “transformation” is the transition to calm spaces and rituals, including visiting a coffee shop and ending the day at home.


    This photo essay also taps into the four principles of visual storytelling, specifically the sensory pillar to hit viewers in their feelings. Images like the third image of the Coca-Cola mural art on an almost century-old building is shot in a way to stop users in their scroll and make them taste and smell a crisp Coca-Cola.


    Patterns in Action


    Don Norman’s Emotion Design framework, as described by Ellen Lupton in Design is Storytelling, offers a lens for analyzing these photos. The fourth image of the East Pole Coffee cup is a perfect example because it evokes all three emotional responses. On the visceral level, there’s a sensory appeal from the bold red cup with an elegant font. On a behavioral level, the cup captures the familiar experience of pausing and sipping a warm coffee. On a reflective level, it can evoke personal connections with coffee culture and community to viewers who might have a similar lifestyle.


    Another pattern in these pictures is the presence of the Gestalt Principles, specifically continuation, similarity, and Figure-Ground. Looking at continuation as an example, both the second image of the tunnel with graffiti and the sixth image of the pickleball paddle and sneakers in the parking lot use continuation with a tunnel perspective and parking lot stripe to guide the viewer’s eyes.


    The Role of Visual Perception + Color Psychology


    Between Chaos and Calm: The Intersection of Stillness, draws on visual perception and color psychology to influence the viewer’s emotions and where their attention is directed. As stated in the 8 Ways to Use Color Psychology in Marketing (With Examples) article by Céillie Clark-Keane, learning and applying fundamental color associations to elicit specific emotions is one of the most powerful techniques a visual storyteller has. In the first image of this photo essay, the red tones in the UNO cards create a sense of energy and urgency that straddles chaos and play.


    In addition to color, people interpret visual information using visual perception theories like bottom-up and top-down processes. Bottom-up relies on sensory input, including color, shape, contrast, and other features, while top-down channels prior context and knowledge to depict what we are seeing. This same image of the UNO cards uses the bottom-up visual perception theory by contrasting the bright card colors against the gray pavement. It’s also using the top-down theory since some viewers can interpret disarray from the cards left scattered everywhere.


    Using authenticity to build an emotional connection through a cohesive narrative is what makes visual storytelling so important (HubSpot). The images captured and curated in this photo essay follow this same intention.


    The order of these photos conveys a story about how isolated moments can be strung together into a story about the human experience. That’s the beauty of a photo essay. It transforms these ordinary moments into a story worth telling.

    Works Cited


    Santiago, Erica. “Visual Storytelling: 10 Stunning Examples to Inspire You.” HubSpot Blog, HubSpot, 23 Sept. 2024, blog.hubspot.com/marketing/visual-storytelling-examples.



    Simplicity, Symmetry and More: Gestalt Theory and the Design Principles It Gave Birth To, http://www.canva.com/learn/gestalt-theory/. Accessed 3 Dec. 2025.



    McLeod, Saul. “Visual Perception Theory in Psychology.” Simply Psychology, 16 June 2023, http://www.simplypsychology.org/perception-theories.html.



    Clark-Keane, Céillie. “8 Ways to Use Color Psychology in Marketing (with Examples).” WordStream, 28 Apr. 2025, http://www.wordstream.com/blog/ws/2022/07/12/color-psychology-marketing.



    Lupton, Ellen. Design Is Storytelling. Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, 2021.

    Montalto, Mike. “The Four Principles of Visual Storytelling.” Amplifi, 25 Jan. 2024, amplifinp.com/blog/4-principles-visual-storytelling/.

    Aliotta, Chiara. “Five Steps to Design Your Product with Powerful Storytelling.” Smashing Magazine, 15 Feb. 2023, http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2023/02/sell-product-powerful-storytelling/.

  • Why We Click: The Behavioral Science Behind Design

    Image Source: Generated by CoPilot


    Have you ever wondered why you clicked ‘Buy Now’ on a pair of running sneakers when you were initially on your phone to reply to a message you received from your uncle on Facebook? Or maybe you were ordering a refill of your favorite protein powder and ended up getting a shaker and a multivitamin supplement too. None of these purchases is by accident. Companies work with professional product designers to create deliberate design choices in the UI/UX of their website. These choices are rooted in behavioral economics. Whether it’s the color of the homepage, shape of the button, or the arrangement of their grid, design goes beyond aesthetics. Design is a form of persuasive psychology that knows how to make subtle nudges that influence our lives.


    Design as a Behavioral Science Tool

    Image Source: BrandTrust


    Running through a cost-analysis for every micro decision of the day, like what articles you should read in a newsletter, or what you should have for breakfast, would slow you down to the point you wouldn’t get anything done. Making choices quickly and efficiently based on gut feelings and impulses is part of the human decision-making process, also known as behavioral economics (Ellen Lupton). Design elements like colors, sizing, and layout are a few design elements that play into the fact that people rely on two things. Shortcuts and emotions. To understand this further, let’s look at one of the six essential behavioral economics principles to see its impact on businesses. Loss Aversion.


    Loss aversion refers to our tendency to emphasize the potential absence of something we already have more than the acquisition of something we don’t currently possess.


    In a recent study, airline passengers were told they could sell their right to recline in their seats. On average, those who usually reclined wanted $41 to give up their ability to do so. Then, the experimenters changed the default, telling passengers they could not recline unless they paid an additional fee. In this case, recliners said they’d pay just $12 for the privilege.


    The passengers should value their ability to recline at the same amount each time, no matter how the question was framed. But in the minds of real passengers, losing that privilege seemed far more significant than gaining it. (BrandTrust).


    To better understand how design works, let’s explore perception and sensation.


    The Psychology Behind Visual Decisions

    Image Source: Canva


    The only way to influence human perception with design is to understand the driving forces behind it. Gestalt Theory, a movement that originated in the 1920s, is a concept outlining several principles that unpack these driving forces and aim to make sense of how our minds perceive things in whole forms.


    One principle within Gestalt Theory to explain this is proximity. When elements are laid out close together, you perceive them as belonging to the same group (Canva). Proximity is one of the many Gestalt Theory principles that reduces cognitive load and helps you make choices based on a gut feeling. Understanding how your sensory system perceives design by receiving information from your environment takes this one step further.

    Design That Speaks to Our Senses

    Image Source: Astriata


    To create a lasting impact, design goes beyond visuals. Design uses images, sound, and textures to create digital experiences to a whole new level. Multi-sensory stimulation is proven to impact memory. According to an article from astriata, “when we experience something for the first time, our senses are stimulated, and a brief memory called ‘sensory memory’ may become part of our short-term or long-term memory. Research shows that learning and the absorption of new information is more effective when more than one sense is engaged.” (Astriata).


    One of the best examples of multi-sensory design is McDonald’s delivery app. When you open it, the first thing you see is high-resolution shots of mouthwatering burgers that use bold and warm colors to trigger appetite. This is coupled with intentional sound design with their push notifications that have certain noises for deals. You’ll also notice the app design incorporates haptic feedback by integrating subtle vibrations in its UX that are triggered when you place an order.



    Design isn’t neutral. Design intentionally leverages colors, shapes, layout, and so much more to influence your perception and decisions. Whether it’s understanding principles of behavioral economics like loss aversion, unpacking the specifics of gestalt theory, or tapping into multi-sensory design like haptic feedback, understanding the role design plays enables you to better understand human behavior. 



    Works Cited


    “Simplicity, Symmetry and More: Gestalt Theory and the Design Principles It Gave Birth To.” Canva, http://www.canva.com/learn/gestalt-theory/. Accessed 22 Nov. 2025.


    McLeod, Saul. “Visual Perception Theory in Psychology.” Simply Psychology, 16 June 2023, http://www.simplypsychology.org/perception-theories.html.


    “6 Essential Behavioral Economics Principles for Business.” Brandtrust, Brandtrust, 12 Dec. 2024, brandtrust.com/blog/behavioral-economics/.


    “How Multi-Sensory Web Design Can Improve the User Experience.” Astriata, 17 Oct. 2024, astriata.com/how-multi-sensory-web-design-improves-user-experience/.


    Lupton, Ellen. Design Is Storytelling. Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, 2021.

  • Designing Human Experiences: How Emotional Design + Intentional Friction = Experience Economy

    Image Source: Generated by CoPilot


    Stopping by your favorite independent coffee shop down the street to get a $6 latte instead of making a cup at home that’ll cost you less than a dollar, or spending hours selecting and then assembling an Ikea bookshelf in your new apartment. What do both things have in common? Neither is about the final end product; both are about the experience. According to Design is Storytelling by Ellen Lupton, designing and selling experiences eclipsed the manufacture of physical things. An experience stirs emotions and generates memories. During an experience, users create meanings and associations that become more important than the event itself. This is the experience economy. (Ellen Lupton).


    The New Economic Shift Away from Products Towards Experiences

    Image Source: HBR


    In the 21st century, it is no longer debatable that we’ve entered the emerging experience economy. Understanding when and how to enter it is crucial for following the progression of economic value, enabling you to do two things successfully.

    1. Sell in a differentiated way.
    2. Sell a premium.


    A HBR article by Joseph Pine and James Gilmore explains it perfectly: “No two people can have the same experience, because each experience derives from the interaction between the staged event (like a theatrical play) and the individual’s state of mind.”

    One of my favorite examples to consider is the American Express Centurion Lounge in major airports. Amex is using the lounge as a stage, its credit card (your entry) as a prop, and its goal is to create a memorable moment for you. This example connects directly to Robert Plutchik’s theory of emotion.


    Evoking Emotions Through Design: Why it Matters

    Image Source: Interaction Design Foundation


    Using Plutchik’s theory of emotion and wheel, you can think about the emotional impact of design as a starting point. The simplicity of this theory and wheel is what resonated with millions of people, as well as the 10 points of emotion. When you take it one step further beyond the eight primary emotions Plutchik identifies and the fact that they exist in varying degrees of intensity, the takeaway is that people are paying for experiences that make them feel something. Design is the catalyst of this shift. Taking it one step further, there’s something else you can introduce with design to deepen emotional engagement and brand loyalty. Intentional friction.

    Inviting a Little Chaos: How Friction Helps Design

    Image Source: Fast Company


    As much as we are in the experience economy, we are also in the instant economy. One of the biggest problems with speed and instant gratification is this overemphasis on efficiency, which is creating homogenous transactional experiences with zero emotional depth. If you rush someone through an experience, there isn’t an opportunity for serendipitous thinking, interactions, or any memorable moments. Friction isn’t always bad! There are types of friction that add more value and create a connection. Fast Company published an article about this exact idea, citing one of my favorite behavioral science principles, the IKEA effect.

    “This is a phenomenon where consumers place more value on an item, they’ve invested time and energy in creating, which is why you refuse to throw away that $30 bookshelf you spent four hours putting together for your first apartment. The experience of building IKEA furniture is a form of friction that fosters ownership and personal value, even if the intrinsic value of the item is low.”


    The Experience Multiplier

    Image Source: AIGA Eye on Design


    We are in the middle of a massive shift. The experience economy is seeing more focus on a concept AIGA Eye on Design is calling “Design Feeling” instead of “Design Thinking.” There’s a new prioritization on emotional experience at the forefront of design, and empathy overall is one of the most marketable and desirable skills.

    In this experience economy, design isn’t just for decoration. Design is an emotional engine that creates memories, feelings, and unforgettable experiences. What’s an experience you bought recently that made you feel something?



    Works Cited


    Yuan, Oscar. “Friction Can Make the Customer Experience More Human – Fast Company.” Fast Company, 31 Oct. 2025, http://www.fastcompany.com/91433077/friction-can-make-the-customer-experience-more-human.

    Stinson, Liz. “The Empathy Economy Is Booming, but What Happens When Our Emotional Connections to Others Are Designed, Packaged, and Sold?” Eye on Design, 13 July 2022, eyeondesign.aiga.org/the-empathy-economy-is-booming-but-what-happens-when-our-emotional-connections-to-others-are-designed-packaged-and-sold/.

    II, B. Joseph Pine, and James H. Gilmore. “Welcome to the Experience Economy.” Harvard Business Review, 1 July 1998, hbr.org/1998/07/welcome-to-the-experience-economy.

    “Putting Some Emotion into Your Design – Plutchik’s Wheel of Emotions.” The Interaction Design Foundation, Interaction Design Foundation, 25 Sept. 2025, http://www.interaction-design.org/literature/article/putting-some-emotion-into-your-design-plutchik-s-wheel-of-emotions.

    Lupton, Ellen. Design Is Storytelling. Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, 2021.

  • From Flip Phones to Fiction: Why Storytelling is the Most Powerful Tool We Have

    Image Source: Generated by CoPilot


    What if your Oura ring could predict your emotions before you even felt them? Or, what if you had a tattoo that was your biometric access to take public transit? Design Fiction is a concept that enables creators to make products that are future-forward. This is an opportunity to tap into your imagination, whether it’s envisioning a utopia or dystopia. Using design fiction, combined with visual storytelling, you create a catalyst for social and technological evolution that challenges the present world as we know it. Let’s first look at how design fiction is a proponent of change.


    Design Fiction as a Catalyst for Change

    Image Source: CNET


    Persuasion is most powerful when it’s grounded in a narrative context. You can have the most stunning visual, but beauty without a compelling narrative doesn’t convince policymakers or anyone in a position of power to execute real change. Richard Buday, the author of the article “The Reality of Design Fiction: How Storytelling Can Save The World,” references a proverb that supports the previous statement perfectly. “What is truer than the truth? A Story.” Buday goes on to offer several pop culture examples that capture the essence of how films, stories, and novels that employed this philosophy moved the needle forward. My favorite example is how Star Trek showed us flip phones in 1964, and three decades later, Motorola sold its first flip phone, the StarTac. After understanding design fiction and how it’s a catalyst when it’s rooted in storytelling to persuade people, you can use a framework to create story-driven design.


    Story-Driven Design: A Framework for Visual Coherence

    Image Source: Smashing Magazine


    More often than not, people think writers are the only creators who need to rely on a narrative to connect with an audience. This is false. Designers use storytelling to create meaningful user experiences that are memorable. Award-winning designer Chiara Aliotta has trademarked a five-step framework to enable designers to create visual coherence.


    1. Understand Your Protagonist And The Purpose Of The Product

    2. Define the Structure of Your Narrative

    3. The Beginning

    4. The Middle

    5. The End


    The second step of this framework supports the idea that combining Aristotle’s three-act concept with the “StoryBrand Structure” by Donald Miller, a philosophy that stories must be a chain of cause-and-effect moments, creates the most clear sense of continuity throughout any narrative.


    One of the best examples I can think of to reference that supports this is the first season of the Netflix Original, “Stranger Things.” This is a sci-fi series based on a series of supernatural events that happen in a small town in Indiana, following a group of young friends who discover one mystery after another involving the government and supernatural forces.


    The first season of Stranger Things is a perfect example of combining Aristotle’s three-act concept with the StoryBrand Structure because there are three clear acts with a cause-and-effect narrative.


    • Act I: One of the main characters, Will, disappears and initiates the first mystery (Setup)
    • Act II: The group of children meets Eleven, a child with psychic abilities who is a government experiment, and eventually discovers the “Upside Down.” (Confrontation)
    • Act III: The group of children confronts the Demogorgon (monster) and saves their friend Will, who went missing (Resolution).


    Despite the fact that this is fiction, you can still leverage the hero’s journey to anticipate change and design future experiences that are a reality.


    The Hero’s Journey as a Tool for Designing a New Reality

    Image Source: TedEd


    The hero’s journey is one of the most popular concepts that is not only a storytelling tactic but also used in design thinking and trend predicting. It’s a great tool for innovation in the design process because it grounds very abstract and complicated ideas into simpler stories that are relatable and puts the user in the spotlight.

    Leah Zaid, an award-winning futurist, authored an article, How to Use the Hero’s Journey as a Design-Thinking + Foresight Tool, that details a simplified version of how you can conceptualize the hero’s journey as a designer to better understand your customers and target audience.

    Learning about patterns in action to understand what a narrative arc, hero’s journey, and how to storyboard taught me how design fiction can be a catalyst for change. Once I knew more about the why behind this, I was able to shift my attention to story-driven design, specifically how to use it to turn speculation into a narration that’s compelling and emotionally relatable. Lastly, I reframed the hero’s journey and learned about its relationship with change and how to tap into it for user journeys to design future experiences that can become reality.

    All of this leads me to believe that in our world of uncertainty, maybe the most powerful design tool we have is knowing how to tell a good story.

  • How Small Details Tell Big Stories

    Image Source: Generated by ChatGpt


    From the loud sirens, car horns, and hustle and bustle of working all day trying to grab a quick bite to eat at a street vendor outside of your city office, to the warmth of family laughter, smell of tomato sauce, and sitting at table bumping elbows waiting for an Italian family-style meal, food is a universal love language and no matter where you are, what you are eating, and who you are doing it with, there’s a story to tell.


    Stillness at Midnight After Meals

    Image Source: Pikwizard


    Restaurants serve as windows into culture, emotion, and authentically show us who people are and what they value.  When it comes to diners, they serve as an American cultural icon of escapism. Maybe you’ve had a long night and want to indulge in that big omelet breakfast you couldn’t have because your boss needed you in the office early this morning, or you’re looking for somewhere to go on a Saturday night with your high school friends after the movies. The ambience of diners and this specific image lean into the second principle of visual storytelling, sensory. In a world that’s moving at a million miles a minute, the soft lights, cushioned booths, and brightly colored interiors create a sense of safety and reprieve. Let’s juxtapose this by looking behind the scenes of a restaurant.


    Behind the Pass: Pressure Meets Precision

    Image Source: Bon Appétit


    It’s the responsibility of a restaurant’s staff to control the chaos by orchestrating a perfect culinary symphony. Customers don’t see the grueling number of hours line cooks and their teams put in to unpack deliveries, prep all day, do research and development to refine a menu, and everything else in between to create magical memories for patrons. This is a glimpse of the culmination of all those hours of grit, sweat, tears, laughter, and smiles. What you see in this image is a dramatic storytelling technique. There isn’t much to interpret, and we are completely absorbed in the action, the line cooks prepping food. Shifting gears, it’s time to look at another image that evokes a different feeling.


    Pausing Before Pouring: A Morning Routine

    Image Source: SIPTHESTYLE


    Finding your version of peace and quiet to start your day is one of the best things you can do to boost your mood. For lots of people, that’s grabbing a cup of coffee or tea at a café like this one. Designing a café with large windows to let lots of natural sunlight in and outfitting its interior with plants and warm earth tone colors creates a cozy mood. This is the kind of space someone would want to work remotely from. In visual storytelling, creating and capturing a “moment,” a fleeting bit of time that creates emotion and empathy, is one of the toughest things to do. This picture is focused on a very specific moment, the opening of this café.


    The Theatrics of Taste


    Image Source: Kobé Ichiban


    A restaurant experience can be make or break based on the taste of your food and the service. Something that’s often forgotten about or pushed aside? The entertainment factor. Hibachi is one of those restaurant experiences that zeroes in on this. Whether it’s your birthday, a graduation, or maybe an anniversary, this type of restaurant’s main goal is to make you laugh, smile, and take a picture or video to show your friends what you did. The chef’s facial expression and the flame flaring up from the grill capture this emotion perfectly.


    Sizzling Sounds Underneath Street Lights


    Image Source: Eater


    Grit and drive. Those are the first two words that come to mind when you see food vendors on popular boulevards in the downtown of a densely populated city or urban neighborhood. The composition of this picture goes beyond telling a story of just this woman grilling meat. The image gives you contextual clues that she’s in downtown Los Angeles based on following the rule of thirds. You can see the Roosevelt Hotel sign in the upper middle grid and a Hollywood star on the lower right-hand grid.


    Conversations Can Come in Small Plates


    Image Source: Visit Philadelphia


    One of the most important visual storytelling concepts is to show, don’t tell. This picture is doing that perfectly. I immediately hear many conversations happening and the noise of a tin shaker pouring a new cocktail into a glass. The yellow, orange, and green colors exude a warm and approachable atmosphere that’s still chic. This picture gives enough context to viewers to think of what type of archetype would dine here. Someone who values higher quality food and beverage experiences, who is maybe trying to get away from their child to have a date night with their significant other. Turning the page, let’s look at one more restaurant picture.


    Generations Around the Table: Tradition in Every Fold


    Image Source: Cincinnati Magazine


    Generational depth and legacy are woven into the DNA of family-style Italian restaurants. The candles lit at each table, the red plaid tablecloth folded perfectly, this scene represents casual dining that evokes a friendly and homey feeling. This image follows a non-dramatic storytelling framework, created from different perspectives, and requires the audience to complete the picture themselves.


    Restaurants, cafes, and food vendors around the world all carry human stories behind every meal and interaction. The smallest details, like the position of someone’s body, where their eyes are looking, and what’s on the table, are visual cues to what the mood of the moment is. When you consider elements of visual storytelling, including composition, sensory feelings, and whether it’s dramatic or non-dramatic storytelling, your connection to that photo is stronger, and you can create a full story to tell.

  • The Key to Becoming a Flower that Flourishes Through Concrete

    Image Source: Generated by Copilot




    When you gain enough self-awareness to realize that it’s your job to create an environment that meets your needs, it lights a new fire in you. Being imprisoned in a culture that pushes you to primarily interact with screens instead of using your imagination is ruining your attention.




    There’s a strong body of evidence that supports this claim as one of the biggest problems for children. I am going to spend a few minutes taking it one step further by explaining how this applies to anyone and why you need to demystify motivations and be wary of becoming a jack of many trades, but master of none.



    Demystifying Motivations



    Decades of research and thousands of studies have proven there are two types of primary motivation. Intrinsic and Extrinsic. Johann Hari, author of “Stolen Focus: Why You Can’t Pay Attention – How to Think Deeply, uses a great metaphor of a runner to explain the contrast of these two motivations.


    “If you go running in the morning because you love how it feels, the wind in your hair, the sense that your body is powerful, that’s an intrinsic motivation. Now, imagine you go running because you have a drill sergeant dad who forces you to go with him. Or you go running to post a shirtless video on Instagram for the likes. This is an extrinsic motivation. You are not doing it because the act itself gives you pleasure or fulfillment.”


    Image Source: NPR



    The author and researchers he’s interviewing about this concept conclude that it’s easier to focus and stick with it when your motivations are intrinsic.



    When I think about my extrinsic and intrinsic motivations, I couldn’t agree more. One of my intrinsic motivations is playing Pickleball. I play regularly, not to impress anyone specifically or get something out of it, but because I truly enjoy the game. I’ve noticed my attention on the court is very sharp, and I am steadily improving over time because I am focused. In contrast, one of my extrinsic motivations is going to the gym. I don’t go out of pure joy of working out; my main motivation to go is to get in better shape and stay healthy. During the digital detox experiment several weeks ago, I really noticed the contrast when I would find myself on my phone in the gym with minimal attention and focus on the exercises.



    I believe creating a balance of intrinsic and extrinsic motivations is one of the best ways to regain your attention and focus.  


    Jack of Many Trades, Master of None


    Throughout life, you’re exploring hobbies to develop passions, and just like how seasons come and go, so do your hobbies – especially throughout childhood as you’re establishing an identity.




    When thinking about how to regain focus and attention while reducing anxiety and stress, regardless of age, one thing comes to mind for me. Setting attainable goals. According to an article from NPR, practicing these skills can help build a reservoir of positive energy that you can draw on when it’s time to cope with challenges or annoyances.


    Image Source: NPR




    This article cites further evidence from neuroscience research that shows repeated practice of certain positive emotions can even change our brains.



    Although the idea of freedom and confinement mentally and physically is one of the biggest challenges children face today regarding their attention and focus, I believe it’s something impacting people of all ages.



    One of the best things you can do is take a step back and demystify intrinsic and extrinsic motivations to understand how to harness the positivity of both types in your life. Also, avoiding falling into the trap of letting an environment convince you that you’re a jack of many trades, master of none, will help you get one step closer to regaining your attention, deepening your focus, and not letting anyone or anything hinder your creativity, social bonds, or lust for life.

  • How Orchestrating Organized Chaos Frees up 99% of Your Headspace

    Image Source: Generated by Copilot




    Developing a process to capture your thoughts, turn them into actionable tactics, and streamline working with a team to achieve a shared outcome are a few of the backbone principles of project management. Regardless of your job, industry, and experience, good project management compared to poor project management can make or break the success of your work, and overall joy of a job or project.




    After learning about some of the history and methodologies, and creating a project management workspace for myself, I have two pieces of advice for how anyone can orchestrate organized chaos to overall improve processes and collaboration with others.



    Use Kanban to Implement K.I.S.S.



    One of my favorite concepts that my manager at my first full-time job taught me was the K.I.S.S. rule. Keep it simple, stupid. This is a cheeky reminder to avoid unnecessary complexity, whether you’re working with the CEO of your company or explaining to your 5-year-old son what you did at work during the day. It’s a fantastic design principle to remind you that simplicity is a key to success.



    Creating a Kanban with Trello and using it as a project management tool is one of the best ways to implement K.I.S.S.


    Image Source: Interaction Design Foundation



    As you can see in the two pictures below, I stayed true to the roots of a Kanban by designing a system with three stages that tracks how my tasks (parts) need to move through stages to completion (production within the factory).


    Image Source: Created by Author


    Image Source: Created by Author


    Reality is a Roller Coaster: How to Make the Ride Smoother


    One of the biggest upsides I found with creating this Trello board and learning about project management is that it’s not a linear process. Implementing Trello as a project management method is a low-effort, high-impact strategy. It enables you to quickly get organized and move through your work with minimal confusion, and creates more efficiency for yourself and your team.



    Something that stuck with me regarding the general and historical overview of project management is the fact that the common, clear indicators of a successful project are determined by factors like:


    • Completion on schedule.
    • Staying within budget.
    • Producing work aligned with agreed upon quality standards.




    Using a Kanban in Trello as an agile project management method gave me instant flexibility, was easy to control how much work is in progress and how granular I want to go with tasks so I could improve my overall focus and avoid overload, and has a visual display that uses colored labels to organize and create easy associations in my head for me to better remember and prioritize, almost like a version of a mind map in some ways.



    Whether you start using Trello for your project management, or another popular platform like Basecamp, learning about the history of project management, doubling down on a Kanban as an agile method, and implementing it to get organized, focused, and make your roller coaster ride smoother is one of the best ways you can free up headspace and orchestra whatever organized chaos is in your life.

  • Eyes Wide Shut: Why Technology is a Hidden Blindfold

    Image Source: Generated by Copilot




    The immediacy of access to information and connections with people is an expectation in 2025. Technology firms and parent holding companies creating these products are at a point where there are stakeholder demands and pressure to keep users’ attention, almost always putting profits over people. Yes, I won’t deny the fact that there are great outcomes made possible because of technology and social media connecting people, but after learning more about the humane aspects of technology from the Center for Humane Technology and additional research, my perspective has evolved.




    I’m going to take a few minutes to explain what persuasive technology is and unpack some of its implications on attention and cognition, as well as social relationships.



    Attention: The Most Precious Resource



    Society is moving at a pace where the “instant economy” is the new normal. Whether it’s getting an item only two days later thanks to Amazon Prime, no longer having to wait for the next episode of your favorite television show to air, and spending hours of your day after working your 9-5 scrolling an infinite feed watching short-form videos, our brains are being rewired to crave dopamine and immediate gratification through all these forms of entertainment powered by persuasive technology, devices that use tested design strategies to manipulate human behavior towards a desired goal.



    Nicholas Carr, author of the New York Times Bestseller, The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing to our Brains, describes this phenomenon perfectly.


    “What the net seems to be doing is chipping away my capacity for concentration and contemplation. My mind now expects to take in information the way the net distributes it: in a swiftly moving stream of particles.”


    Image Source: Full Focus



    According to Science News Today, research indicates that attention is deeply linked to emotional and spiritual well-being. If you have shallow attention, it fragments your emotional life. This article references studies that prove constant switching, especially during childhood and adolescence, is detrimental to brain functions such as impulse control, delayed gratification, and sustained attention.



    I notice myself struggling a ton with sustained attention, especially at work, when I am put into certain situations forcing me to multitask. If I am creating a website registration page for a new event my department is hosting, I can’t have my email window open to see a new message about an alumni profile I should add to our social media queue. Whiplash between tasks makes it tough for me to stay in flow state and puts unnecessary pressure and anxiety on myself to dive into non-urgent work that doesn’t have my sustained attention.


    Image Source: Science News Today



    The Paradigms Isolating Instead of Uniting Us


    To better understand why technology companies are under pressure to capture engagement and prioritize growth, we need to start by examining the negative implications on people, communities, and societies.



    The Center for Humane Technology created the Ledger of Harms, a report of facts supported by citations to explain what some of these paradigms are and how they are affecting all of us.



    One specific example that I believe will resonate with anyone, regardless of your profession, gender, ethnicity, or location, is social relationships. It’s important to acknowledge and not refute the fact that social networks do connect us, but they also distract us from connecting with the people right in front of us.




    The Center for Humane Technology references evidence of this from a long-term study of 11,000 people, with strong results concluding that people with higher social media use had a direct correlation with a higher level of neuroticism and anxiety only one year later.



    As I reconsider my habits, uses, and the time I spend on these platforms, I hope these insights provide some new perspectives on how to harness technology and leverage its positive attributes instead of the persuasive ones that create more harm than benefits.

  • The Devil is in the Details: How Data Offers Answers

    Image Source: Generated by Copilot



    For the first time in my life, I tried something new to think more clearly and gain time. I attempted to complete a digital detox. As I am reading “Stolen Focus: Why You Can’t Pay Attention – How to Think Deeply Again,” by Johann Hari, I’ve been challenged to change my perspective on attention, focus, and thinking deeply. So, I chose to give up the app Facebook Messenger for five days for this digital detox.



    Although I admittedly broke this digital detox several times during the five days, I felt a newfound sense of calm, clarity, and focus, whether it was more energy after I ate lunch at the office, or an increase in joy from focused time spent at the gym, not checking my phone in between sets.



    I’m going to explain two key lessons this experiment taught me, and why I recommend that anyone try doing one to improve their relationship with technology and social media.


    Creating Your Own Sunshine



    Almost all my days typically start with a blaring alarm, light flooding into my room, and rolling over to check messages I have from my friends. From a literal perspective, changing this routine to have my phone out of arm’s reach forced me to get up, turn the alarm off, and get ready for the day.  



    The three out of five days of this experiment that I didn’t check Facebook Messenger in the morning resulted in:


    • Getting to work earlier.
    • Having fewer headaches from screen time after I immediately woke up.
    • Increased focus while building a to-do list.


    Image Source: Created by Author

    Image Source: Created by Author


    As seen in the two graphs pictured above, I checked Facebook Messenger on the second and the fifth day in the morning during this digital detox. Both mornings, I arrived at work around 9 am instead of 8:30 am and felt more fatigued earlier in the day.



    Johann Hari’s conversation with Google and Facebook data strategists about Send the Sunshine, an app to cure seasonal depression, was built on the belief that to shape behavior, you make sure users get hearts and likes right away.



    The immediacy of this dopamine is a psychological motivator for me to check Facebook Messenger. Breaking away from it was one of the best habits I could consider building at the start of each day.




    The Invisible Force Pulling the Puppet Strings

    Social media algorithms are complex data formulas that keep us on our screens and create attention atrophy. This article from Science News Today explains the influence of algorithms well:



    “Algorithms are designed to keep you scrolling. They do this by identifying patterns in the content you engage with most – be it cat videos, political memes, or fitness tips, and showing you more of the same.”




    Image Source: Science News Today



    Although this isn’t directly applicable to my intrinsic motivation to check Facebook Messenger, explore pages on apps like Instagram and TikTok do this with their algorithms to keep me on their apps in an unproductive way.



    Setting app screen time limits, or using any of these third-party apps to help manage your digital wellbeing, have been great tactics for me to test and implement after this digital detox.



    If you are interested in doing a digital detox, I highly recommend you consider a short-term one. You’ll learn how to create sunshine and better understand how to not let algorithms pull your strings, making you a helpless puppet to these apps.