I’m Nate Wiegand, I’m currently a 2nd year MBA student at MIT. Prior to this, I served in the US Army for 8 years, most recently working in Psychological Operations to combat misinformation online. I loved this line of work because it let me dive into the psychological effects of technology (mainly social media) on both individuals and entire countries. I’ve long monitored my own interactions with the internet and smartphones and their effects on my attention span and mindfulness, so it was facinating to do similar analysis on a larger scale.
In a separate vein, I’ve long enjoyed finding everyday objects whose ergonomics and design give tactile joy to interact with. This has mainly been in the form of backpacks (I adore my Evergoods CPL24), but as I studied human interactions with technology more and more, I started to notice how boring the design of phones has become. Every new iPhone, Pixel, or Galaxy is just a glass rectangle. If you’re lucky, it’s a bendy rectangle. RIP Palm and Blackberry.
In an effort to combine my interests, I want to create a new smartphone (or pseudo smartphone). Using principles of human centered design and the concept of nudges from behavioral economics, I believe it’s possible to create an interesting form factor that also adds enough friction to make a smartphone a tool rather than a compulsion. That being said, I also have 3 cats…so I may just make cat toys.