Emotional Ergonomics: The Cost of Attention | Shuya Gong | TEDxUM5

Every day, we spend our attention before we know where it has gone. Fields of design have long studied how chairs support backs and handles fit hands. But modern life asks us to carry a newer kind of strain: the urgency of notifications, the friction of interactions, and the complexity of systems that shape our daily experience. Designer Shuya Gong explores emotional ergonomics as a way of easing this hidden labor — and asks how the world around us, both physical and digital, might change what we notice, what we care about, what we feel, and who we become Shuya Gong is a designer and strategist whose work explores how emerging technologies reshape human behavior, relationships, and the systems around us. She is on the faculty of Harvard University’s Master in Design Engineering program and previously served as the Design Innovation Fellow at the Technology & Entrepreneurship Center at Harvard. Her current research focuses on emotional ergonomics: the hidden and cumulative labor imposed by the cyberphysical systems, interactions, and environments that structure everyday life. Previously, Shuya was an investor and Creative Director at IDEO CoLab Ventures and a Design Director across IDEO’s Emerging Technology, Climate, and Systems Change practices. She has helped organizations including Citi, Nasdaq, Fidelity, H&M, and Target define new strategic futures, build new ventures, and create products and brands, including Target’s Good & Gather line. Her practice also draws from regenerative design and her apprenticeship in her family’s traditional Chinese medicine practice. She holds a degree in Mechanical Engineering from Harvard University. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx