As we head into 2020, I’m still obsessed with the integration of human experience. My work over the last two decades in technology has often been centered on the user or the customer. What I began to realize was first of all that when we talk about the “user“ or the “customer“ that we are always talking about humans, and that it benefits us to think in a more holistic human context when we do that.
Now I find I’m not as interested in user or customer experience as I am in human experience: what does it mean to optimize for the human experience; what does it mean to be human at all; how can that apply to businesses, marketing, to schools, to hospitals, and well beyond.
But I also find that when business focuses on improving human experience in alignment with what the business objectives are, the chances for success increase. This is why in my books and keynotes and beyond I always talk about “human-centric digital transformation.” With emerging technology, because of the increased capacity and scale that it offers, it’s becoming increasingly important that that alignment is in place so that we don’t scale unintended consequences.
I believe some of the biggest opportunities right now for the future of human experience — and indeed the future of humanity in general — are in looking at the ways online meets offline, customer meets user, employee meets candidate, global meets local, how the gig economy is shaking up the work landscape, and on and on.
We’ll have to think about context, environment, culture, aesthetics, identity. We’ll have to think about the human journey instead of the customer journey.
We’ll have to think about metrics that measure the human experience. What will those be? How do you measure fulfillment? A life well lived?
This moment in history feels very chaotic, where automation, artificial intelligence, and other emerging technologies are rapidly changing our vision of even the near future. Meanwhile, 70-80% of CEOs think the next 3 years are more critical than the past 50. We’re clearly in a truly transformative time.
So there’s tremendous opportunity for UX and CX professionals to put a stake in the ground on behalf of a wider lens on humanity, and advocate for integrated human experiences in the midst of machine-driven interactions and transactions, to make them as meaningful as possible.
McDonald's Netherlands faced backlash after pulling an AI-generated Christmas ad, highlighting a gap between AI output and consumer expectations for authenticity. Research indicates AI-produced...
The line between being a “Tech Humanist” as I define it and a tech ethics professional is pretty thin. My emphasis has been on...
Somewhere on my computer, I keep a collection of images of humans showing up in non-human contexts. These are contexts that are supposed to...
“In most of our cities and our nation, we don’t prioritize human life [….] We’re prioritizing traffic and the movement of vehicles.” Source: Zero...
The way strategists and designers theorize about human experience — and specifically customer experience, which is humans in the contextual role of “customer” —...
One of the themes shaping my work this year is “the future of trust and truth.” In an era characterized by disagreement over basic...
Scratch the surface of any debate about the future of work and you’ll find there an argument for Universal Basic Income. And certainly from...
I’m reminded by my memories on Facebook (yes, I still have Facebook for a variety of reasons — that’s a separate post) that it...
“The first question I ask myself when something doesn’t seem to be beautiful is why do I think it’s not beautiful. And very shortly...
Rather, the most interesting things about Pokemon Go have to do with connected experiences, and the sweeping changes these are bringing: new marketing models, opportunities with...
I often work at coffee shops. A lot of other people do, too, of course. But since it’s my nature to think about meaning and...
By using this form you agree with our Privacy Policy and the storage and handling of your data by this website.
info@koinsights.com
27 W 60th St #20560
New York, NY 10023-9991
By using this form you agree with our Privacy Policy and the storage and handling of your data by this website.
© 2026 KO Insights. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy. Cookie Policy.
Made with love by Unicorn Designer Studio.
