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Let's talk human agency

We believe that technology should increase rather than decrease human agency.

Good for people

It's pretty simple-- people generally don't want tech products to wind up manipulating them into doing things they don't want to do.

Good for business

Building products with human agency in mind results in happier, more satisfied customers who stick around, spend more money and refer their friends.

Good for life

We strive to increase agency not just through building awesome products -- we treat our clients and team in ways that respect their agency and also donate 5% of our profits to highly effective charities.

Pretty important

Given the increasingly important role technology plays in our daily lives, and future technological advances like Brain Machine Interfaces, tech that is designed with agency in mind is crucial to our future.

The Manifesto for Human Agency Driven Technology

We’re uncovering ways to increase human agency by pushing the envelope ourselves. (And embedding it within every product we build)

Through this work we have come to value:
Individual FlowOver Interruptions
Complete ThoughtsOver Constant
Single-TaskingOver Multi
Conservation Of WillpowerOver A
Easy-To-Remember User FlowsOver Flashy
Long-Term Customer ValueOver Short

Technology products today often include UX designed to distract and manipulate.

  • This UX makes it challenging for us to:
  • Do what we want to do.
  • Do what we intend to do.
  • Remember our goals.
  • Think complete thoughts.
  • Accomplish tasks on time.

We’re constantly confronted with distractions and interruptions designed to serve the product at the cost of our sanity.

Every interaction is a battle, and we’re exhausted.

Instead, human agency increasing products:

  • Are designed to be friction-free.
  • Function as a seamless extension of ourselves.
  • Discourage multi-tasking.
  • Amplify our transcription fluency.
  • Change only when necessary - only when beneficial.
  • Sacrifice short-term economic gains for long-term customer value.

In short, we’re building products to equip and empower people

  • And for a brief moment, it may appear anti-product, but we’ve found that it’s exactly the opposite.
  • We build satisfying products that keep users coming back.
  • By increasing human agency, each of us reap the benefits.

With ❤️ from AE Studio

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