Humans and technology have worked alongside each other for thousands of years. It is only recently that technology has been forcing...

The buttons for pause and play from a physical stereo are transferred over into the digital space on music streaming sites like Spotify.

Philips Hue introduced a set of three affordances that bring the digital into the physical, using familiar interactions.

Kyoto Yaoichi Honkan installed this wall to ensure water for domestic use during emergencies.

Automated pet feeders should be able to work even when the power is out with back-up battery and offline feeding instructions.

Zappos wins on ease, 100%. The company made it so easy to return shoes that don’t fit that people felt safe to order multiple options.

When an escalator breaks, it turns into stairs. Technology shouldn't completely break when it fails. It can gracefully degrade.

Early models of the Roomba robotic vacuum cleaner uses a chime when finished, and a secondary indicator light to show when it needs cleaning

Search engines match a search term to a list of results. More than 80% of the job is done by bots, and the rest – the choice and curation...

A color changing Colorfil filter indicates when it's time to change it.

Panasonic’s wearable exoskeleton helps humans lift heavy objects with reduced risk of injury.

Eyeglasses are a pass-through interface that allows people to focus through the lens instead of on the lens.

Glass windows offer a pass-through understanding of what’s inside or outside without requiring someone to go there.

The Jawbone Up has a single button and a colored status light. The device can be set to buzz after a short nap or at the optimum sleep cycle

Japan’s tactile strips use raised bumps to let passengers know they’re too close of the train platform.

A light switch contains the complexity and danger of electricity and allows for a simple on/off function.

A foot pull makes takes a simple metal plate and turns it into an affordance usable by an extra limb.

The Japanese translation of the book Calm Technology. Everyday we suffer a physical toll from the stress of poorly designed technology,...