The Brief

How far can Human Centred Design go? Can design do more than improve user’s short term experiences of and interactions with objects, can it be used to truly enrich their lives in the long run?

The Approach

In Bonnie Ware’s book ‘The Top Five Regrets of the Dying: A Life Transformed by the Dearly Departed’ the second most common regret is:

“I wish I hadn’t worked so hard.”

Inspired initially by myself and colleagues working long hours in our studio, I began to recognise that breaking the daily momentum of work would be key to encouraging people to slow down and re-prioritise.

The nib on this pen is timed, requiring the user to determine their working hours at the start of the day and then hold them to that selection (be it taking regular breaks or avoiding working overtime). At the end of the timer the nib retracts, forcing the user to be accountable to themselves and to consider the value of working more.