I have spent my career building software, yet I’ve developed a deep aversion to the clicking, navigating, and digital effort modern work requires. Only recently did I understand why. My brother, a carpenter, is physically worn down after decades of labor. I realized I am experiencing the digital equivalent. Years of micro-movements and screen friction […]
Category: Human-First Design
The AI era Is still searching for its killer app
The AI era lacks its defining “killer app” equivalent to email or the endless scroll. While ChatGPT offers a brilliant conversational interface, it’s not integrated into actual work processes. New systems like Google Workspace Studio, which require users to build custom agents, repeat the flaw of no-code automation: most workers do not want to design […]
The age of disembodiment
Modern work creates a sense of disembodiment, a feeling that actions do not live anywhere because tools are fragmented and lack a shared memory. Workers move across disconnected surfaces, carry context in their heads, and cannot trust systems to behave as one. Scattering AI agents across many apps only deepens the problem. Real productivity requires […]
The real value of AI will not come from the models
AI is rapidly becoming a commodity, similar to electricity, with models converging in performance and racing toward lower prices. Infrastructure will remain essential but low margin, like the power grid. The real value will shift upward to the platforms that turn raw intelligence into usable productivity. The winners will be the horizontal work environments where […]
Horizontalization and the coming effort-to-value race
The future of software will be won by platforms that remove human effort, not by tools tailored to narrow verticals. As AI levels the playing field on intelligence and features, defensibility shifts to Effort-to-Value, meaning how little a user must do to extract meaningful output. Horizontal systems that integrate workflows and eliminate friction will dominate, […]
I hate checking other people’s output
Checking work drains more energy than doing the work itself. Producing output is straightforward, but verifying it forces a slow, vigilant mindset that breaks momentum and makes even small errors costly to uncover. My father’s advice, if you want something done right, do it yourself, makes more sense with experience. Oversight often takes more mental […]
The future is the disappearing machine
The future of technology will not be defined by more screens or immersive interfaces, but by their disappearance. People are growing tired of devices that demand attention and drain energy. As society awakens to the cost of digital dependence, the next generation of innovation will prize simplicity, calm, and invisibility. The most advanced technologies will […]
When software creates more decisions than solutions
Microsoft Viva’s pricing page illustrates what is wrong with enterprise software. Three pricing tiers hide fifteen vague features spread across eight apps, forcing leaders to interpret, compare, and align choices across stakeholders. In theory, evaluating every feature means over 32,000 possible combinations before adoption even begins. Instead of simplifying work, this model multiplies complexity and […]
The Human-First Model: the science of reducing obstacles-to-value
The Human-First Model is my framework for designing work where value flows with the least possible friction. At its core is a science I call Obstacles-to-Value (OTV) and it is the total count and cost of every step, decision, or delay between intent and outcome. By classifying and measuring these obstacles, we can compare processes […]
Counting the burden: from Washington’s paperwork estimates to my mother’s zero-burden future
I’ve long been fascinated by the OMB’s annual “time burden” estimates—billions of hours Americans spend on required work. To me, they’re a national-scale Obstacles-to-Value (OTV) score. My mother imagines a future where people are free to do whatever they want; the engineer in me wants to build it. First, we must measure every burden—what I […]