From AI stress to m[AI]ndfulness

We have a new pandemic, and it stems from IT: AI stress. Each news cycle about AI triggers a feverish wave of different angles: exceeded capacity, new AI services, warning flags. AI has a firm grip on us. The questions we get stuck on begin and end with AI. They might sound something like this: “What should we do with AI?” or “What is everyone else doing with AI?” In the hallways and meeting rooms of both large and small companies, among employees and leaders—yes, at all levels—everyone is trying to find their direction. We hope someone will soon hand us a map that gives us a clue about where we are headed. Or that a path will open up through the AI jungle.

Woman focused on her laptop with a cup of coffee nearby in a workspace.

Madeleine Kusoffsky

UX Business Lead

madeleine.kusoffsky@consid.se

When we chase technology instead of utility

It’s a tangled situation, which is why I want to remind us to look down at our compass—a crucial tool for navigating through unknown territory. The direction should be to develop IT to meet human needs and goals. However, news about innovative technology creates a magnetic field that draws all our attention. Our days and inboxes are filled, more or less, with AI. Paradoxically, AI is in everyone’s line of sight, yet none of us can clearly describe what it is we see.

Good design is often casually described as “invisible.” The interaction flows smoothly, and you move without obstacles. You know whether a door opens inward or outward based on the shape of the doorknob: a handle to pull the door open, a flat plate to push it outward. Not having to hesitate about how things work in our environment or how we navigate a system is preferable.

ChatGPT exemplifies this with its simple chat interface. You just type what you need help with, and the conversation becomes the interface.

Design changes our lives

Creating exemplary simple interfaces is discussed in the book “Don’t Make Me Think” by Steve Krug. The title’s imperative is that design should help the user maintain momentum and not have to stop and hesitate about whether they are on the right or wrong path. Here lies a paradox: AI, like ChatGPT, is so easy to use, yet we wish there were answers to what we should and shouldn’t use it for.

Design is transformative. This means that the form of our services and tools genuinely changes our lives. A simple example is social media: a post can be the beginning of a revolution. AI has already changed how we work, communicate, and make decisions. Furthermore, the rapid advancement of AI creates stress that leads to an echo chamber where the same things are said over and over again. To break out of this, it is high time to design our attention and mindfulness and take control over the way we question ourselves about AI.

”Design is in the questions you ask.”

When I worked at a design research institute, I had a mentor who taught me an important lesson that I always return to: to think about what I am thinking about from time to time. In design, this is called having a reflective practice. One steps back and discovers things that lie in the margins. I get a chance to see which biases hinder me from solving the right problem.

Good questions have the power to impact us and our way of thinking. The right question can even be half the solution. However, to formulate good questions, we need to find focus by having conversations with ourselves—both as individuals and as organizations.

Designing our attention

How we focus and think together as a group can be designed. It involves how we structure meetings, what we read before we meet, and how we allocate speaking time.

It may sound contradictory to “pause” to “think” about how we think together when the feeling is that everything is moving faster and we risk falling behind if we don’t start acting now. I don’t mean that we should sit quietly in a room waiting for AI to develop (even though I believe many of us would benefit from spending more time in quiet rooms, generally).

No, this is about making an investment in adjusting the compass to the benefits we want to create, rather than to the technology itself. In this way, you avoid symptomatic problem-solving, become clearer in your thinking, and reduce reactivity.

Woman in black shirt pointing at sticky notes on a whiteboard during a brainstorming session.

A recipe for mindfulness around AI

So how can an organization become better at asking questions and managing stress around AI? Here are some good ingredients, but there are many more:

Create time and space: It’s not enough to have quick meetings about AI here and there. Factors such as when meetings are held also matter. Even small things, like the title of the meeting, can influence how participants will think.
Refine your questions and focus: By arranging workshops, for example, you can dive deep into what you are really trying to achieve. Focus on human needs and goals, not just on the technology.
Utilize skilled facilitators: A good facilitator can capture the underlying questions that weave through messy discussions and statements. A facilitator can help steer conversations toward the core issues and manage group dynamics by creating time for individual versus group thinking.

Become a designer of your own awareness:

By designing our questions, facilitating workshops, and engaging in reflective practice, we can create a mindful strategy—not just around AI, but about something more important and long-term: human goals and needs.

Being mindful in our approach to AI also means being aware of the ethical and security implications of every decision. An organization that operates this way not only increases its AI readiness but also becomes better equipped to handle complex issues in the future, including those related to AI, security, culture, and organization.

It is only when we start at the right end that we can create long-term value and navigate the waves of new technology—always with human needs at the center.

Smiling man in glasses and a white shirt, standing with arms crossed in a bright room.

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