WATCH BLUE ORIGIN'S ROCKET LAUNCH AND LANDING ATTEMPT AT 10:15 ET ON SUNDAY

THERE'S ACTUALLY GONNA BE A LIVESTREAM THIS TIME

By Sarah Fecht

Jeff Bezos has finally named a time to tune in to Blue Origin's rocket launch on Sunday. The company's livestream, which you can watch above, just started, though it looks like the 10:15am launch has been slightly delayed due to high heat at the Texas launch site.

The launch was originally scheduled for Friday but got bumped to Sunday due to some leaky o-rings. Things are looking good for today's launch, according to Bezos.

This will be the reusable New Shepard rocket's fourth time traveling into suborbital space, where it will deploy an uncrewed capsule in a first-of-its-kind parachute test. Blue Origin will deliberately fail one of the craft's three strings of parachutes, just to see whether the capsule's other two parachute strings and retrothrusters will be able to carry it safely back to Earth. This is an important fail-safe to test, and a necessary step toward Blue Origin’s ultimate goal of carrying civilians into space.

After launch, the rocket will attempt its fourth vertical landing.

Sunday's livestream will be a first for Blue Origin, which, unlike SpaceX, normally keeps its launches as hush-hush as possible. Allowing the public to partake is definitely a welcome change.

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5 Hidden Ways Intravenous Curcumin Combats Cancer Growth

Curcumin is the active phytochemical in turmeric that has been found effective in preventing and treating a variety of maladies, including: cancer, colitis, arthritis, Chron’s disease, depression, lupus, irritable bowel, liver and heart disease, and diabetes.(1)
It is a potent anti-inflammatory—inflammation in the body is a known precursor to illness and disease. 

The way that it works is by regulating the stimulation of apoptic proteins (responsible for cell death) to rid the body of abnormal cells and cytokines: pro-inflammatory molecules that promote communication between cells.(2)

Somehow, curcumin seems to know the difference between a healthy cell and an abnormal one and prevents abnormal cells from replicating and growing.(3)

Adding Turmeric To Your Diet To Ward Of Disease.

Its mild flavor can be added to almost anything and its bright yellow-orange color can enliven foods you already eat. Used extensively in Indian cuisine, this rhizome from the ginger family has been used in many cultures as a staple spice and home remedy.

Ingesting curcumin is effective in reducing inflammation and managing growth of abnormal cells, however, its full healing potential isn’t realized because its bioavailability is limited. Researchers have been looking for other ways to unleash curcumin’s power.

By injecting a solution directly into cancerous tumors, for example, residual curcumin levels have been found to linger for almost a month. By hanging around longer, the effects of apoptosis (self-destruction of cells) and inhibition of tumor growth are vastly increased.(4)

In recent years, intravenous therapy has been introduced as a means of treatment with curcumin. In one study, it was found to heal brain damage caused by trauma, stroke, and radiation treatment.(5)

A ground-breaking Chinese study showed that intravenous curcumin treatment was effective in inhibiting the growth of colon cancer cells.(6)

Because curcumin is fat-soluble, combining it with an intravenous solution enables its broader dispersion through the body.

According to the Advanced Rejuvenation Institute in Australia, curcumin helps combat cancer in several ways:(7)

1. Curcumin has an ability to promote healthy cells to grow, while slowing down the proliferation and growth of cancer cells.
2. It causes cancer apoptosis (programmed cell death) at lower stages of cancer than other treatments.
3. Curcumin works against toxins and enzymes that promote cancer cell growth, significantly slowing down and often inhibiting the progression of cancer.
4. It prevents angiogenesis (creation of new blood vessels), thus cutting off blood supply from cancer cells; cancer cells starve and stop growing.
5. Curcumin slows down inflammation—an environment conducive to the growth of cancer cells—slowing down cancer growth.

Using curcumin intravenously means that it is absorbed by the body better and faster, which may be especially useful for cancer patients for whom time is vital.

Curcumin has antioxidant properties that, when combined with vitamin C, has been found to combat hepatotoxicity (liver damage caused by medication).

When tested separately in one study, neither the vitamin C nor the curcumin were able to reverse the damage, but were effective when combined.(7)

Curcumin causes the production of high levels of “the master antioxidant” glutathione; the relevance to liver damage: 4-HNE is a highly toxic substance that is produced in the liver when it has been compromised and glutathione has been shown to diffuse this substance, significantly reducing toxicity.(8)

Another curcumin partner that increases its bioavailability is phosphatidylcholine, a natural chemical that can be found in eggs, sunflower seeds, and mustard.

Phosphatidylcholine has been used intravenously to treat high cholesterol, liver disease, fatty tumors, atheriosclerosis, and hepatitis C.(9) These two substances combined are highly toxic to breast cancer cells—five times more effective than curcumin alone.(10)

You can try this fast and easy turmeric and black pepper soup at home (not to inject but to eat!)—click here for the recipe.

1 http://lpi.oregonstate.edu/mic/dietary-factors/phytochemicals/curcumin

2 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3535097/

3 http://www.advancedrejuvenationinstitute.com/cancer/cancer-research-curcumin.html

4 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2880212/

5 https://www.researchgate.net/publication/51056579_Differential_Distribution_of_Intravenous_Curcumin_Formulations_in_the_Rat_Brain

6 http://science.naturalnews.com/2011/229345_Curcumin_loaded_biodegradable_polymeric_micelles_for_colon_cancer_therapy_in.html

7 http://althealthworks.com/10081/iv-curcumin-the-best-way-to-use-turmeric-yetyelena/

34 Pictures That Show You Exactly What Muscles You’re Stretching

Stretching before and after a workout is a great way to promote blood flow to the muscles and increase flexibility.

Stretching may help you improve the range of motion of your joints, which in turn may help improve your athletic performance and decrease your risk of injury (1).

Although you may feel a slight burn in your muscles as you stretch them, you may not know exactly what muscles the stretch is actually affecting.

These 34 pictures made by Vicky Timon, a yoga expert and author of “Encyclopedia of Pilates Exercises,” and James Kilgallon, CSCS, creator of Mazio’s Body Maintenance Program will give you a better sense of how your body actually responds to your favourite stretches.

1. Camel Pose

Muscles emphasized: Rectus Abdominus and External Obliques.

This stretch requires a good base of flexibility. Simply sit on your heels with your hands behind you, and push your hips up and forward. Try to keep the pressure off your lumbar spine. If you have any neck pain or imapaied mobility in the neck, don’t drop your head back as you perform this stretch.

2. Wide Forward Fold

Muscles emphasized: adductors and hamstrings.

This little stretch will open your hips. Start by sitting on your bum, with your knees bent and your feet alined with your groin. Hold your back straight and breathe deeply. As your muscles begin to relax, straighten your legs out. Gently lower your chest and reach out for your feet. Pull the balls of your feet to stretch out your calf muscles. You can also use a belt if you can’t reach your feet.

3. Frog Pose

Muscles emphasized: adductors.

Stretch out your groin with this deep stretch. Start by resting your hands and knees on a yoga mat. Widen your knees until your feel resistance in your groin and upper thigh. Gently push your hips forward or backward to deepen the stretch

4. Wide Side Lunge Pose

Muscles emphasized: adductors.

Stand up with legs apart in a wide stance Bend forward and walk your right leg outward. Bend your right knee and point your left toes towards the ceiling. Keep your right foot firmly on the ground and rest your weight on your right hip.

5. Butterfly Stretch

Muscles emphasized: adductors.

Sit down comfortably and bring the soles of your feet together. Keep your back straight. Deepen your stretch by applying pressure on your knees with your hands or elbows. The closer you keep your feet to your groin, the more you’ll stretch your upper thigh muscles. Once you feel a good stretch, move your feet away from your hips and bend forward to try to touch the ground. This will loosen up your lower back muscles.

6. Forearm Extensor Stretch

Muscles emphasized: Forearm extensor.

Stand up with your shoulder and back straight. Roll your shoulders backwards to open up your chest. Stretch your arms out in front of you. Place your right hand over your left hand and apply pressure. Your left hand should bend at the wrist and you should feel pressure in your forearm. Your can also bend your wrist in the opposite direction for a fuller stretch.

7. Lateral Side Flexion of the Neck

Muscles emphasized: sternocleidomastoid “SCM”.

Keep your neck long and straight, slowly band your neck towards your left shoulder, but do not touch it. Try to make sure that your neck is straight and in line with your spine. You can take it a step further by sitting on a chair and holding on to the bottom of your seat

8. Neck Rotation Stretch

Muscles emphasized: sternocleidomastoid “SCM”.

Begin by slowly rotating your neck towards your left. Make sure to keep your chin up to engage the right muscles. You can also use your left arm to apply pressure on the right side of your chin.

9. Neck Extension Stretch

Muscles emphasized: sternocleidomastoid “SCM”.

Stand up straight and place your hands on your hips. Keep your back straight and gently tilt your head backwards. Keep your shoulders back to make sure your spine is in the right position.

10. Lateral Side Flexion of the Neck with Hand Assistance

Muscles emphasized: sternocleidomastoid “SCM” and upper trapezius.

This stretch is similar to the Lateral Side Flexion of the Neck (n°7). Keep your neck long and straight, slowly band your neck towards your left shoulder. Take your left hand and gently pull your head towards your left shoulder. You can deepen the stretch by sitting on a chair and holding onto the seat with your right arm.

11. Half Kneeling Quad / Hip Flexor Stretch

Muscles emphasized: psoas and quadriceps.

Start on the floor on your knees, standing tall. Bring your left hip forward, supporting yourself by placing your left foot in front of you. You should feel a stretch in your hip and you put you weight on your left foot. Place your right hand your right foot and bring it towards you. Hold the stretch for a minute if possible.

12. Forearm Extensor Stretch

Muscles emphasized: forearm extensor.

Stand up with your shoulder and back straight. Roll your shoulders backwards to open up your chest. Stretch your arms out in front of you. Place your right hand over your left hand and apply pressure. Your left hand should be rbent at the wrist and you should feel pressure in your forearm. Your can also bring your arms above your head while holding the same position to stretch your shoulders.

13. Lateral Shoulder Stretch

Muscles emphasized: side deltoid.

Place your right arm across your chest. Cross your left arm across your chest and apply pressure just above your right elbow.

14. Standing Assisted Neck Flexion Stretch

Muscles emphasized: trapezius muscle.

Stand tall with your feet together and firmly grounded. Slowly sit your hips backwards and round your upper back towards you. Slowly push your chin into your chest.

15. Lat Stretch with Spinal Traction

Muscles emphasized: latissimus dorsi.

Using a wall bar, grip the tallest bar you can reach and begin you lift your feet off the ground. You should feel it in your chest and lats. If you can get your feet completely off the ground, you’ll also feel it in your lumbar spine. If you suffer from shoulder pain, do not perform this stretch.

16. Lat Stretch at the Wall

Muscles emphasized: latissimus dorsi.

Place both your hands on the corner of a wall or post. Hold the corner on the left side of the post and slowly pull your body to the right. This will stretch the right side of your chest and hips.

17. Child’s Pose

Muscles emphasized: latissimus dorsi.

Start on the ground with your hands and your knees on the floor. Sit backwards unto your legs and place your forehead unto the ground in front of you. To get a better stretch, keep your knees wide apart. Your back should be slightly arched.

18. Standing Calf Stretch

Muscles emphasized: soleus and gastrocnemius.

Stand near a stair step with our legs shoulder’s width apart. Place your toes onto the step and try to keep your back straight. To get a better stretch, turn your toes slightly outward or inward to engages different muscles in your calves.

19. Front Split

Muscles emphasized: psoas and hamstring.

This stretch requires a high level of flexibility and really needs to be done in a slow and controlled way. Start in the kneeling lunge position (see number 11). And slowly extend your leg in front of you. You can also start by standing with one leg in front of you and the other behind. Slowly move your legs further apart until your groin touches the floor.

20. Seated Forward Fold / Seated Toe Touch

Muscles emphasized: hamstrings and calf

Sit into your bum with your legs in front of you. Bend forward and try to touch your toes. If you can’t quite reach, bend your legs and grip your feet. Slowly extend your legs until you feel a stretch in the muscles under your legs.

21. Single Led Forward Bend

Muscles emphasized: hamstrings.

Stand with one foot in front of the other. Keep your back straight and place your hands on your hips. Bend at your hip and lift the toes of your front foot towards the ceiling.

22. Deep Squat

Muscles emphasized: glutes.

Begin by standing with your feet a shoulders width apart. Hold your weight on your hips and heels. Place your arms in front of you inside your legs and place a bit of pressure inside our knees.

23. Seated Half King Pigeon Pose

Muscles emphasized: glutes.

Sit down with your legs in front of you and pull your right leg towards your chest. Rotate your hip outward but keep your spine straight.

24. Standing Calf Stretch at the Wall

Muscles emphasized: soleus and gastrocnemius.

Stand in front of a wall and begin in a lunge position. Make sure that your back foot is slightly turned outwards. Gradually lower that foot towards the floor to stretch your calf muscles.

25. Lateral Flexion at the Wall

Muscles emphasized: external obliques.

This is a milder version of stretch n°16. Standing tall, hold the outer side of a post and push your hips away from that post.

26. Supine Twist

Muscles emphasized: glutes and external obliques.

This stretch is great to relieve sciatica pain. Start by lying flat on your back with your arms on your side. Bring your left leg across your body and hold your left knee with your right hand. Take deep breaths to really open up your chest and rib cage. If this stretch is too hard for you, hold both knees towards your chest and gently rotate them to your left, keeping your back and head on the floor.

27. Lateral Flexion with a Dowel

Muscles emphasized: external obliques and latissimus dorsi.

Stand tall with your hands above your head. You should be holding a stick or a towel, keeping your hands about a shoulder’s width apart. Gradually push your hips out to the side and keep your shoulder rolled back. If you have problems with your lower back, do not perform this stretch.

28. Triangle Pose

Muscles emphasized: external obliques.

Stand with your legs far apart, the left should be straight in front of you and the right behind you. Your back foot should be away from you at a 90° angle. Place your left hand on your leg in front of you and bend forward, keeping your back straight. Then, place your right arm towards the ceiling, slightly rotating your body in the process. Your head should be looking up.

29. Chest Stretch at the Wall

Muscles emphasized: pectorals.

Start by facing a wall and place your right hand on that wall. Your hand you be turned towards the right with your thumb towards the ceiling. Gradually rotate your body away from the wall. You should feel this stretch in your chest and belly. Don’t push it too far or you can damage your shoulder joint.

30. Assisted Chest Stretch

Muscles emphasized: chest and latissimus dorsi.

You’ll need a partner to perform this stretch. Begin by lying down on the floor and holding your palms face up. Your partner should be seated in a deep squat near your hands. Ask you partner to hold your hands and gently pull them away from you. The stretch should affect your chest, arms and spine.

31. Seated half Pigeon Variation

Muscles emphasized: anterior tibialis.

Sit with your feet out in f­­­ront of you. Fold your right leg, bending at the knee so that your right ankle rests on your left knee. Place you right hand behind you and slowly bend forward. You can also rotate your body to the left to stretch your back.

32. Supine Shoulder External Rotation Stretch

Muscles emphasized: subscapularis.

Lie flat on your back and place your arm beside your body. Your elbow should be at a 90° angle and your forearm should not be touching the floor. Gradually lower your forearm to the floor above your head. If you can’t reach, your rotator cuffs are too tight: loosen them up with a massage or physical therapy.

33. Down Dog Variation at the Wall

Muscles emphasized: pectorals and latissimus dorsi.

Stand far enough from a wall so that when you touch it your body is parallel to the ground. Lower yourself into this position by rotating your hips and keeping your back straight. Once in the proper position, move your chest forward and make a slight arch in your upper back to stretch your lats and chest muscles. You can also bend your knees to really get into it.

34. Assisted Chest Stretch Variation

Muscles emphasized: pectorals.

Once again, you’ll need a partner for this exercise. Start by lying face-down on the floor. Your arms should be along your body with your palms face down. Your partner should stand above you at hip height and pull your hands upwards and back. You should feel a deep stretch in your chest muscles, but it’s not recommended for people suffering from shoulder pain.

How your Brain Works and How to Train it

Five Design Tools for Embracing the Human Condition

by Ori Takemura

You may have heard the term Human Condition in various contexts. Broadly, it is a vague and all-inclusive notion about being human.

Right now we are at the precipice of yet another period of transformation, a period that will give birth to new products with new interfaces, new interactions and a new behavior around them. I think it is a perfect time to talk about a design tool-set for the human condition. Not design for mobile, not design for wearables and not UIs for IoT, but rather a holistic tool-set for designing products that are to be used by humans  — a reminder of what design is and what it takes to design products for each of us.

Dissecting the human condition.

You may have heard the term Human Condition in various contexts. Broadly, it is a vague and all-inclusive notion about being human. If we, however, want to arrive at a design tool-set, I suggest we work on those aspects of being human that affect and are affected by the interactions with the world. First such aspect is the perception of reality.

1. Perception of reality and thus — needs.

One take on the perception of reality is to think of a web page that gets rendered on your computer:

• That page is from the internet but is not the internet itself;
• That page may look very different on the computers of other people, but for you what you see on your computer = the internet.
• Everything that you see on that browser window would be exactly how the internet is in your perception, even if your provider blocked certain photos or changed some text.

This is important because where a problem solving approach may find no problems, our ‘browser window’ may render needs and pains that only exist in our subjective reality.

Renowned Japanese designer Masayuki Kurokawa puts it this way: ‘Tokyo is not something seen from a bird’s eye view. Tokyo is what someone in Tokyo sees from where he stands now. All of Tokyo is concentrated into that small portion of Tokyo.’

We usually think that design answers problems, like medicine addresses pain. That statement is only true if we understand that problems and pain are to be found inside individual perceptions of reality and not based on the external signals or data. The biggest challenge here is to work with the real users of your product yet rely on observation and not on what they say.

The first tool for designers is thus a simple mirror that doubles as a magnifying glass, allowing a designer to examine themselves in critical detail. A designer should look inside true, subjective needs of a future user, and the best way is to do that is to start with you. When designing products that are not meant for oneself, conducting interviews and working with real users, rather than generating artificial personas, is the way to go. What we want to focus on is a self-expression of a user’s needs throughout their interactions, but remember that users may have a hard time communicating their perceived needs.

Examples

It is easier to understand perceived needs if we take a look at some products that have well pronounced design choices around them. I chose Instagram and Ello. Both are targeted at a creative crowd. As a creative myself, I can testify that the perceived need for publicity and outreach is very real and that getting even an illusion of it via design is a gratifying experience.

Ello on the left, and Instagram on the right. (circa 2016)

ELLO has an interesting design around following other users. On the top of each post there are two calls to action — a Star and a Plus. You can follow a user and add them to your Favorites list by clicking a Star, or choosing to just follow by clicking Plus. Now here is the gratification trick used in this design — the user does not know if you are actually paying attention to his/her posts, you are counted as a follower whether you added them to your favorites or simply followed. One can follow hundreds of users and only read ten favorite ones — the UI, unlike Twitter, allow you to switch clearly between everyone you follow and your favorites. When Ello launched, users whom you just followed without adding to favorites were called ‘Noise’; you could add a person into your Noise list and still be counted as if you followed them.

Instagram is playing a slightly different game with its design - first it lets everyone be creative and generate content out of nothing, and then it focuses on ‘likes’. ‘Likes’ can be given by a well elaborated call to action — the only button-like UI element, or simply by tapping on the content itself. That second design choice allows for browsing without even paying attention to what you see, and encourages quickly liking the content. This is effectively saying— ‘I saw you’ve posted something, cool :)’, but this action does not detail what you saw or why it was cool; often one cannot even recall what they saw on Instagram or how many likes they gave in any given day. On the other side of this interaction is a gratified content creator, and their perceived need is being addressed via design alone.

Those are examples of UX design that works well, but not necessarily good product design.

It is important to understand that a good design does not need to address the perceived need itself, but rather WHY that perceived need is occurring. This is where a magnifying glass and a mirror come in handy as we need to look for meaningful solutions for real people and not ideas that simply fit or gratify.

Behance and Flickr also address the same needs as Ello and Instagram while allowing for real community interactions and professional growth. Minecraft is also worth mentioning as a game that lets everyone create content and be engaged, but it is also an educational world simulation that teaches players about various systems derived from the real world.

2. Perception of value & function.

Let’s go back to our metaphor of rendering a web page for a human perceiving a reality. Imagine that your service provider, computer software or government filter some words and pictures out, and some are replaced with others.

This is exactly how an individual imprinted perception filter works, filtering out and changing the data we receive in accordance to one’s perceived reality. Some of these filters are imprinted into our perception by parents, church, school, and we add some during the course of our lives. Unlike cognitive biases (that’s part 3) imprinted filters are not how the human brain works, they are how we ‘teach’ ourselves to see things, their meanings and values.

JUICY SALIF — Philippe Starck for Alessi

In his book ‘Emotional Design: Why We Love (or Hate) Everyday Things’, Don Norman chooses a juicer by Philippe Stark that is terrible at its utilitarian function of juicing and yet absolutely wonderful at functions and values that are perception driven, such as being a conversation starter or a home decor sculpture, or even a memory provoking gift. This is a great example of how certain values can be purely perceptional, yet still get imprinted into one’s mind thus make an object functional.

Infinity Piece by Becomb, “Movement: This piece contains no movement. It is not a watch.”

“Movement: This piece contains no movement. It is not a watch.”

I personally like to show the Infinity Piece by Becomb when touching on value and function perception. This is a watch that does not show time, does not have hands or sensors, yet works very well as a wearable object. I would even argue that Infinity Piece is a better wearable than the Apple Watch or any of the currently available Google Wear watches. I am a strong believer in smart wearables, and designed my fair share, like the KeiKei / Uni Watch, however we have yet to see or design a new meaningful wearable that would address the human condition of today.

There are many ways a product or a category can get a subjective value imprinted towards them, however there is one notion that is particularly interesting for designers to explore, especially in the context of making new interactions or designing new product categories, and that notion is Qualia. When you experience something for the first time in your life, a taste of a certain wine, a first kiss, or an amazing view from an airplane and you consciously understand your experience — then you are consuming a qualia. Human brain is hardwired to seek new qualia. That is the reason we travel, try new food and participate in various activities.

The famous Japanese brain scientist Kenichiro Mogi wrote: ‘The qualia of the Grand Canyon cannot be experienced unless you actually go there. It cannot be felt otherwise. People travel in pursuit of such qualia...The yearning for new qualia, for fresh, unknown qualia, is in everybody’s hearts. This is the universal desire for qualia shared by all human beings.’.

Even without touching on the subject of Virtual Reality I would argue that digital products could be filled with qualia.

Producing Qualia in the interface or functions allows us to imprint perceived value and brand the interaction, making this an extremely powerful differentiator for companies and products.

Here is our tool for the perception of value — a journey map. A ‘One day / week / month in life’ and where the product you are designing would have its place. A Journey map requires a real human from the first tool (the mirror), as one should be cautious of making journey maps for artificial personas.

3. Perception of quality.

The human mind is subjected to what is usually called ‘perception biases’. Similar to optical illusions, these are characteristics that are perceived regardless of their presence in the product — a more expensive bottle of water tastes better even if both bottles are filled from a tap in a back room.

The human mind also perceives things that are viscerally pleasing and polished as better performing: there is a direct correlation between how something looks and how its working performance would be appreciated. In studies where the same product was disguised as two different ones, and one was given more attention to visual design, respondents always claim that the better looking product worked better and even performed its functions faster. The success of Apple versus PC and iOS versus Android has a lot to do with this perception.

Android device (left)  shows an error message when an app crashes while iOS (right) pretends that everything is perfectly fine.

iOS for instance never tells a user that a certain app has crashed, providing a design language that viscerally suggests reliability. But do apps really not crash on iOS? Were other phones inferior in performance when Apple released the iPhone? Of course, iOS apps do crash and the iPhone was no miracle—it was merely designed to feel like one. The first iPhone during its first months on the market was not even a smartphone: there was no ecosystem in place. There was no app store and not even an SDK, a flaw that Steve Jobs sold as a feature. Consumer perception was very well manipulated by design, and because we now know that there is no objective reality, the perceived characteristics of speed and reliability actually became real in each and every subjective bubble.

Another example is  UBER. Uber started as a luxury brand using only black limousines, without any low-cost options such as UberX. Luxury was also communicated in the logotype and the app design. So what changed when Uber started to compete with traditional taxis and offered UberX? Unsurprisingly, nothing has changed - now users get Uber’s perceived qualities but at a competitive price. Every time someone summons an UberX they get a perceived quality of a limo service even though it may be delivered in a fairly old and at times not entirely reliable car. It is highly likely that for some, Uber had managed to brand a qualia—the experience of riding a limo that is now forever linked with the brand.

By understanding the perception of quality we can derive another tool — a design language, a tone, transitions and visceral elements of our future product combined with the brand and pricing strategy can amplify certain qualities and even communicate non-existent ones.

4. The state of FLOW.

Our mood or how we feel at every given moment greatly influences our performance, creativity and the energy we have. There are ways to influence the mood and promote certain states of mind. One state of mind referred to as Flow is of biggest interest to us.

When in the state of flow one is at their pinnacle of energy and engagement level, concentrated and focused, yet not stressed or burned out after. This state is great for education, work and office environments, sports and lifestyle management, which is why we as designers have to examine it very closely when creating any products or experiences.

To create a state of Flow we need to perfectly balance several components:

1. Learning curve: rules have to be clear and easy to understand, and rules introduced later should rely on previous experiences and established foundations.
2. Challenge: it has to be challenging enough to progress but not unbearably hard or boringly easy, the challenge curve should have accidental depressions and surprises.
3. Sense of progress: there should be a visually clear and constant communication of accumulated progress.
4. Reward: rewards that vary in size or amount, and reoccur during the process of interaction are known to be the best to maintain the state of flow.
5. Finally, Failure should be communicated in a fun way, and be perceived as a learning experience.

A careful reader may have recognized that all five components are usually present in a very familiar product — games. Our fourth tool is thus a gamification technique. One should remember that this tool is optional, and does not fit every product category; not every app or activity should be turned into a game to drive retention or excite users. An awareness of exploiting design and its consequences bring us to the final part.

5. Longevity & Mortality.

I strongly believe that every designer has to remember one very peculiar fact about human nature— humans have a limited lifespan, and time is their most important resource. This simple calculation is a good example: imagine you have designed an app or a game that takes around 15 minutes of a user’s time in the morning and in the evening, and gives nothing meaningful back. In just one month the app would have taken 15 hours away from the user. Factor in 9 hours of sleep and that brings it to a full day, time that someone could have spent reading a book, playing with their children or freeing time for something else later. We one full day by designing for retention, by designing for perceived relief of perceived pains and so on. Good design decisions for bad products are neither ethical nor professional. There is little difference between drawing cute cigarette packaging or selling meth to kids and making a free to play game that takes hours of one’s life that just exploits instant gratification.

Which is why the final tool everyone needs when designing for humans is  a strong moral compass.

The five tools we have arrived at are not the only ones a designer would need, there are many more wonderful techniques and observations to apply when designing for the human condition; however, these five tools will provide a good starting point for any designer.

• Illustrations by Ori.

Thanks to Andy Pratt & Danien Chee