The three things we want from technology

If you’re reading this, it’s very likely that you are at least vaguely interested in technology.  It’s even possible that you get a bit excited when new gadgets are released.  But regardless of whether you follow the sector closely or only deal with it as needs must, there are three things we all want from any technology: innovation in how we do things, an economic dividend, and real benefits for our lives.

It is human to look to innovate in everything we do, without a sense of progress or innovation we quickly get frustrated.  This is sometimes described as the “hedonic treadmill”, the phenomenon where we return to a baseline level of happiness despite significant positive or negative changes.  For example, after getting a new phone or big screen TV, people assume that they will be happier, but they very quickly return to their previous level of satisfaction unless they quickly follow it up with another innovation “hit”!

Innovation is, it seems, as much an emotional response as a practical one.  Steve Jobs understood this and is famous for elevating design as a central part of any device that Apple makes to help create an emotional connection.  Others have similarly combined innovation and design to drive such a relationship in technology from domestic appliances to home entertainment and, of course, almost all makes of cars.  The companies that get this right not only create loyal customers but also addicted ones who are looking for that next upgrade to recapture the feeling.

But as much as we relate emotionally to technology, we are still looking for an economic benefit or dividend.  Most of the time, we’d like this to be achieved through an improvement in productivity, which  has proven difficult for the IT industry to deliver over the past half century (as I’ve described before in articles such as The digital productivity rules have changed).  Sometimes it is appropriate for the economic benefit to be delivered through behavioural economics where technology-driven “nudges” lead people to better decisions in business or their lives, indirectly providing a benefit to the broader economy.

What is clear, however, from fifty years of the IT revolution is that without deliberate management, the economic dividend is easily lost with the benefits failing to go to the people they were intended for.  For example, rather than cheaper products or services, improved shareholder returns or raising real wages for employees we get trivial features and functions which only serve to feed the insatiable hedonic treadmill.

Our technology should serve our societies and individual families by making our lives better.  The dividends and innovation can, for example, free us up from work and chores, providing more time for leisure.  It can also open up career opportunities for parts of the community that would otherwise be locked out through geographic, carer, or disability challenges.  However, technology also has a dark side which can have the opposite effect.  Social media can isolate, working from home can create “outcome inflation” where you never really leave the office and the incentives are to constantly do more and email can feel like an endless drain on our time.

Technology is neither good nor bad and it can be both as I’ve previously summed-up drawing on a famous prohibition-era speech “If-by-whiskey”.

But good or bad, most of us wouldn’t choose to give up the technology we use every day.  I love being able to connect easily with my friends, navigate around unfamiliar cities, manage my finances from the comfort of my home and balance my workload and home life more easily than ever before.

However, too often, our technology turns straightforward tasks into frustrating experiences.  We’ve all faced situations where an easy transaction becomes a slow, convoluted process online.  Our frustration overflows when forced to register for an app just to pay a bill, create a new user profile to order some goods, or try to book a flight, only to end up calling overloaded call centres when our specific needs aren’t met.

Technology becomes irrelevant if it doesn’t add real value. Internet-connected kitchen appliances, QR codes replacing in-room hotel menus, and other such examples often leave us frustrated rather than excited because they fail to offer genuine utility.

Worse, we have real reasons to fear the impact on society from the deliberate or accidental abuse of technology.  Data can be easily applied to undermine our personal privacy.  Social media has, when misused, caused harm to our social fabric.  And, most recently, as AI takes a larger role in the digital landscape there are legitimate concerns about the disruption it will cause.

However, rather than limit the application of technology for fear of the downside risks, it is better focus on our three objectives: innovation, economic value and social benefits.  If we manage all technology within our organisations and regulate appropriately across our societies with these positive goals in-mind we will always get a better result.