Principles of Calm Technology

Principles of Calm Technology

Developed by Amber Case

• 1. Technology should require the smallest possible amount of attention
  • Technology can communicate, but doesn’t need to speak.
  • Create ambient awareness through different senses.
  • Communicate information without taking the user out of their environment or task.

• 2. Technology should inform and create calm
  • A person's primary task should not be computing, but being human.
  • Give people what they need to solve their problem, and nothing more.

• 3. Technology should make use of the periphery
  • A calm technology will move easily from the periphery of our attention, to the center, and back.
  • The periphery is informing without overburdening.

• 4. Technology should amplify the best of technology and the best of humanity
  • Design for people first.
  • Machines shouldn't act like humans.
  • Humans shouldn't act like machines.
  • Amplify the best part of each.

• 5. Technology can communicate, but doesn’t need to speak
  • Does your product need to rely on voice, or can it use a different communication method?
  • Consider how your technology communicates status.

• 6. Technology should work even when it fails
  • Think about what happens if your technology fails.
  • Does it default to a usable state or does it break down completely?

• 7. The right amount of technology is the minimum needed to solve the problem
  • What is the minimum amount of technology needed to solve the problem?
  • Slim the feature set down so that the product does what it needs to do and no more.

• 8. Technology should respect social norms
  • Technology takes time to introduce to humanity.
  • What social norms exist that your technology might violate or cause stress on?
  • Slowly introduce features so that people have time to get accustomed to the product.

From calmtech.com accessed 2025 Jan 13.