A New Direction for Technology and Human Potential

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“Technology has the potential to increase the tonnage of human happiness on our planet.”

Martin Seligman
MARTIN SELIGMAN
Father of Positive Psychology
Girl Lying In Bed In A Dark Room Scrolling On Her Phone
Girl Lying In Bed In A Dark Room Scrolling On Her Phone
The problem

Tech is Hurting Us

Most of today’s technology has been optimized for company growth and profit at the expense of people’s time, attention, and well-being. Many apps haven’t been designed to minimize the potential harm. Even fewer apps have been designed to meet people’s deeper psychological needs. And we have been suffering as a result.

Woman With A Backpack Over Her Shoulder Smiling At Her iPhone
Woman With A Backpack Over Her Shoulder Smiling At Her iPhone
The Solution

Positive Product Design

Today there is a huge opportunity for tech creators. Positive Product Design is a method for creating positive technology that helps business be a force for good. With the help of positive psychology research, tech designers can develop technology that not only protects human vulnerabilities but also helps people realize their full potential.

Co-Creating The Modern Human Potential Movement

Theories on what drive behavior have evolved significantly. Today, intrinsic motivation, agency, and personal choice are recognized as the healthiest forms of motivation, yet most tech motivates through punishment and reward. It's time to make a change.

Positive Product Design places tech creators at the forefront of the modern human potential movement that’s been building for centuries.

500 BC

The Good Life

Early Greek philosophers, Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle were among the first to inquire about what it means to live a good life.

1900s

Psychoanalysis

Up until World War II, traditional psychology focused on psychological problems and how to remedy them. Sigmund Freud believed that the unconscious determines behavior and developed psychoanalysis based on this belief.

1920s

Behaviorism

B.F. Skinner developed the theory of behaviorism based on the belief that free will was an illusion and that behavior could be controlled through positive and negative reinforcement.

1950s

Humanistic Psychology and Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

Abraham Maslow was among the first to suggest that people were motivated by higher needs, like growth, self-actualization, and transcendence once their basic needs, like food and shelter, were met.

1990s

Positive Psychology

Martin Seligman and Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi evolved humanistic-based thinking into the science of positive psychology, turning it into concrete, evidence-based ways to thrive.

2020

Revamping Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs for the 21st Century

Scott Barry Kaufman, leading researcher on creativity, intelligence, and self-actualization fleshes out Maslow’s theory of self-actualization based on modern science. In Transcend: The New Science of Self-Actualization, Kaufman reveals what it means to be self-actualized in the 21st century.

2022

Launch of Positive Product Design and The Human Potential Index

Courtney Bigony launches Positive Product Design, a new method for creating positive technology, and the Human Potential Index, the most complete measure of human potential, which she developed alongside Scott Barry Kaufman. Used together, they allow tech designers to measurably unlock human potential.

By combining the leveraged impact of technology with the latest science of thriving and human needs, Positive Product Design helps business be a force for good and create a world where every person has the opportunity to realize their full potential.

Get Inspired

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Fast Company

Positive Product Design™

Selected as a 2021 World Changing Idea finalist

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HUFFINGTON POST

Silicon Valley Meets Positive Psychology

Using science to help humanity thrive