FIELD:
Design Science
STATUS:
MA & PhD Research
VALUES:
Ethics, Radical Empathy
FOCUS:
Cognitive sustainability, AI
Neurodesign PhD
the science.
D s gn
happens in our brain.
Your brain just completed the first word, right?
Design – basically everything we see, touch, hear, smell, taste – happens in our nervous system. Design can support, or hijack our brain.
(I’ve chosen my side.)
I’m honored to call University of Oulu (Finland) my academic home. UNI Oulu is consistently ranked among the top 3% of universities worldwide across multiple global rankings.
Design + neuroscience + radical empathy bring us the delightful side effects of data: When we understand our neuro responses, we can design for connection and trust.
For systems:
Fewer errors, faster flows, lower costs. Saved lives.
For societies:
Smarter systems, processes, more time. Better wellbeing, health& safety.
For people:
Less friction, more connection. More time (with loved ones, not tax office bot).
In practice: Sustainability, inclusiveness, equity. Also, accessibility, engagement, resilience. Belonging.
Again, my “why”. In mental health/climate/sustainability/polarity crises, I’d rather build trust than division. I know neurodesign can help solve our deepest systemic problems.
the values.
Ethics.
My design philosophy and values are grounded in ethics. Stanford design legend McKim’s words: we should design for people, and for need.
Ethics doesn’t design scarcity loops, but for human flourishing.
I approach neurodesign — and the dozen other disciplines that inevitably follow — with humility, respect, and a sharp awareness of my own blind spots and cognitive biases.
I’m not interested in dark patterns and scarcity loops. These tools can heal or harm, and I choose to design for wellbeing and sustainable systems.
Radical empathy.
Empathy is the New Radical. Radical empathy is a tool for psychological safety, because empathy builds bridges before anyone even notices the gaps.
We are designed for empathy. Mirror neurons activate both when we feel and when we witness another’s feeling. And these neural pathways can absolutely be trained.
Research shows leaders who cultivate empathy build stronger teams, more creativity, and higher resilience.
Google’s Project Aristotle showed psychological safety being the key factor of success. Harvard’s Linda Hill concluded leaders don’t generate innovation, they create the conditions for it.
Radical empathy is change in practice. Radical empathy makes us… humans. (Even when it sometimes seems animals have more empathy than we do.) Amid fractured societies, mental health crises, and climate breakdown, it offers a way to reconnect — by building trust, resilience, and the conditions for change.
Benefits
1.Stronger commitment – Employees (also: humans) who feel understood are more engaged and loyal.
2.Higher creativity – Empathy brings the voices to the table that normally stay silent.
3.Better retention – Trust keeps talent, fear pushes it away.
4.Resilience & wellbeing – Less burnout. Healthier teams.
5.Faster change – When it’s safe to speak, it’s easier to move
the why.
Our environments shape us in ways we’ve barely begun to understand. Our biology responds – even when we don’t know it.
Big Tech uses science to create addiction:
– infinite scroll
– variable rewards
– read receipts & streaks
– push notifications
– autoplay
– algorithmic echo chambers
– social comparison triggers
– scarcity loops
– micro-dopamine hits
– etc. Endlessly.
Design can either break or build our wellbeing.
Medical errors is the 3rd leading cause of death in U.S. (Makary & Daniel, 2016). Interruptions in work raise risks – redesigning the critical points of the work flow cut errors 88 % (Kliger et al., 2009; 2012).
Imagine this, scaled in societies.
academic review.
“…the research topic is timely and forward-looking, addressing complex intersections.
…work is of an excellent standard.”
S. Miettinen
– Dean, Faculty of Arts and design, University of Lapland
