It's Not You Who's Addicted, the System Was Designed That Way
It is not even eight in the morning, yet the phone screen is already full. Thirty messages in a class group, assignment announcements from lecturers, and social media notifications that never truly stop. The day has not yet begun, but attention has already been drained in every direction. It feels familiar, does it not?
Interestingly, this is not merely a matter of us being ‘addicted to phones’. There is something deeper than that.
In the field of Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), technology is essentially designed to help humans achieve their goals, not the other way around. However, when applications compete to seize our attention every minute, that boundary begins to blur. Technology that exists to make life easier is gradually demanding that we remain constantly alert—and we, without realising it, simply comply.
The Trap of Information Overload and Persuasive Design
In reality, not all incoming notifications are important. Most contain information that could be read several hours later without any consequence.
However, the way all these notifications appear feels equally urgent: the screen lights up, the phone vibrates, and a red number appears in the corner of the application. Our brains are not equipped to immediately distinguish which ones require an instantaneous response. As a result, all signals feel equally urgent, and we respond to all of them.
In Information Systems studies, this condition is known as information overload—when the amount of information received exceeds an individual’s ability to process it effectively.
What makes this situation complex is that this condition does not occur by chance. Many modern applications are intentionally designed to ensure users keep returning, and notifications are one of the primary tools used.
This is what is known in the world of technological design as persuasive design: designing digital experiences in such a way that user attention becomes a commodity to be continuously harvested.
When Systems Become Megaphones
As an Information Systems student, I see this problem not just as a matter of the volume of notifications, but as a matter of how information is managed. In system design, the primary goal of technology should be to help users obtain relevant information without being burdened by unimportant matters.
In other words, a good system should function as a filter, not as a megaphone that constantly screams for attention.
Unfortunately, that principle often shifts. Instead of helping users focus, many platforms instead send as many notifications as possible to increase engagement. Human attention is treated like a resource to be fought over.
The longer we remain within an application, the greater the business value obtained by the platform. And the most worrying part is not how often we open our phones, but the fact that we are becoming almost unaware of doing so.
The Urgent Need for Humane Technology
If the problem stems from how systems are designed, then the conversation regarding the solution should also begin there. It should not just come from the user side, who is constantly asked to be more mindful of phone usage.
There is a concept that has recently gained traction in the tech world: humane technology. The essence is simple: systems should be designed to respect user attention, not to aggressively seize it.
In even the most basic practice, this could mean: prioritising notifications based on urgency, and summarising non-urgent information to be sent at a specific time, rather than dripping it throughout the day. We do not need more advanced technology; we need technology that is more honest about what it is actually doing to our attention.
I am not saying that phones are the enemy. But as someone studying system design, I am beginning to realise that every design decision—no matter how small—has real consequences for the psychology of the person using it.
The success of a system is no longer about how many users open it every minute, but about how well that system helps them go about their day with peace of mind. And perhaps, that is a new standard we should have implemented long ago.