We talk a lot about human-centred design, but we rarely define what “human” actually means. If we want data and design to feel human, we need a way to measure it with the same clarity we measure everything else. So I built the Data Human Index. It’s a simple five-dimension model that helps you understand the journey from the perspective of the person moving through it. Transparency Do people understand what is happening and why? Consent Do they have a real choice and is that

Most companies genuinely believe they design their websites for people. They hire behavioural scientists, study user journeys and optimize flows based on what people tend to click, skip or avoid. The intention is to make the experience feel intuitive and to support the path to conversion, and in many cases it does exactly that. But there is an interesting tension that keeps coming up for me. Most modern digital experiences are built around human behaviour, not human experienc

Maybe the better question is how it feels when it doesn’t. That uneasy moment when a brand seems to know a little too much, or when a recommendation feels robotic instead of relevant. These are signs that something is missing in the way data is being used. Too often, data is treated as a shortcut to results instead of a bridge to understanding. The goal becomes efficiency, not empathy, and that’s where the disconnect happens. For me, making data feel more human means designin

Most of my career has been about making data more meaningful. Not just for marketers and businesses, but for the people behind the numbers. From my PhD research on music and emotion, to the platforms I helped build that turned listening habits into shared emotional experiences, to later using social data to understand personality and motivation in real time, I have always believed that behaviour is the most honest signal we have. And that behind every signal is a person. Howe