Great line from an article I am reading: “Micro-human interactions are scientifically connected to human development, yet they are gradually decreasing from our day-to-day lives with the uptick of digital experiences, from meal delivery apps to self-checkout and endless Zoom calls.”
Two reasons for this, and they both impact how we design places for work and tasks. The first one is fragmented methods of communication and the second one is disconnection from digital tools.
Communication is both personal and generational: I was listening to a conversation at the weightlifting club yesterday between my teenage team member who is 19 and my late 20-something team members about how they communicate now. Memes, links, and gaming platforms came up, Messenger was ‘too old school’ and they get really annoyed by a voice note that they have to listen to. I am not surprised that the generations are disconnected, our common tools and means of exchange are also fragmented and / or discontinued.
One of the bigger problems in the design of hybrid working is the assumption that people communicate in a consistent manner with each other as we did pre-pandemic and pre-social tools.
Digital crap means media avoidance: Too much crap and clickbait from side hustles on social tools and even in mainstream news (news as entertainment), most folks I know are checking out of digital media and focusing on living normal, undocumented lives.
And for the social tools, what you see on socials is the “best of” or ‘sizzle reel’ equivalents of what they are doing. Last night, I saw one friend jumping out of an airplane in a tandem parachute jump, one friend in a headstand in a police station in Botswana and one friend doing sound restoration work in India. All legit photos and videos, but you do not see the other aspects of their lives, like dirty laundry, it is hidden. So one “cool” moment, but then no other interactions with others outside text messages on various platforms. Asynchronous and impersonal.
Otherwise, what I am finding is that everyone is disconnecting.
So here comes the trick question: How do we get people to reconnect in person with human experiences in a specific location? What drives them there, what kind of amenities or growth experiences would keep them engaged if they are turned off by digital content? Do we really miss people? So is being with people the actual drawing card and not the tech or the visual experience of the place?
To be continued….