Design’s next big frontier? Shaping behavior in real time

Small devices with embedded intelligence can do more than just measure; they’re showing their potential to change the way we act, writes Sean Madden in Fast Company.

“For the first time, we have in essence a kit of parts–sensors, software, wireless protocols, an ecosystem of smartphones–that makes it relatively easy to balance unobtrusiveness, access and appropriateness in almost any device. The greatest obstacles now are figuring out what to measure, and ensuring that we use the tremendous persuasive power of these new feedback loops to encourage the right behavior.”