Design thinking is a process that aims to solve complex problems and create innovative solutions by focusing on the needs of users. This audio guide will provide an overview of design thinking and its key principles.

Unlocking-The-Secrets-Of-What-Is-Key-In-Any-Design-Thinking-Process

We rarely (if ever) get to host a cyborg anthropologist on our podcast, so we are thrilled to have Amber Case join us as a special guest for this episode. 

Amber, who works at the intersection of human and technology interactions, shares her journey into envisioning what a calm technology is. Calm Technology is a design philosophy that advocates for technology to integrate into our lives, enhancing our ability to focus rather than distracting us. She takes us through everyday objects that have been designed this way and leaves us challenging what’s really “transparent technology”?

We stretch the boundaries to include a conversation on organizations and governance: a leading thread is that of keeping asking questions and not drinking the kool-aid of truthiness in how we think about tech and organizing. 

Tune in to this provocation that leaps into the future of technology, its impact on society, and how you can navigate these landscapes with mindful intent.

This podcast started on a personal note - Amber shared her experience being a child of engineers, and also having early exposure to the natural world - both of which she believes set the precedence for what she does today. 

She takes us through a wealth of experience she gained in her multifaceted career - having been a renowned book author, TED speaker, serial startup founder, advisor, co-founder of DAOs, Research Director at the Meta Governance Project, and most recently the founder of the Calm Tech Institute.

Amber advocates for a future where technology "gets out of your way and lets you live your life."

This episode will elicit new questions for you and your career.

This episode has been occasionally recorded as “sound only”.

Key Highlights

👉 Critical intersection between human behavior and technology, emphasizing the need for a deeper understanding of our digital coexistence.
👉 Calm Technology as an essential way to creating designs that respect human attention without overwhelming users.
👉Building tools that help users focus on the task and not the tool.
👉 Complexities of governance in technological and organizational contexts, with a focus on the potentials and pitfalls of decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs).
👉 Ways to bring a shift towards innovations that serve humanity and contribute to a more equitable future.
👉 Developing a questioning mindset for driving meaningful technological advancements.


Topics /chapters

(00:00) Building Calm Technology and Organizations - Intro
(02:09) The start of a cyborg anthropologist
(11:19) What happens as Technology fades into the background/ disappears?
(19:55) Technology as facilitator vs. distractor
(31:06) How to limit and grow technology
(48:53) Organizations shaping itself to build better technology
(59:37) Breadcrumbs and Suggestions

Remember that you can always find transcripts and key highlights of the episode on our website: https://boundaryless.io/podcast/Amber-Case/

Episode recorded on February 22, 2024


Get in touch with Boundaryless:

Find out more about the show and the research at Boundaryless at https://boundaryless.io/resources/podcast

Twitter: https://twitter.com/boundaryless_
Website: https://boundaryless.io/contacts
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/boundaryless-pdt-3eo

Music
Music from Liosound / Walter Mobilio. Find his portfolio here: https://blss.io/Podcast-Music

The Boundaryless Conversation Podcast: Season 5

#96 - Building Calm Technology and Organizations with Amber Case

In a world where products and organizational design often take centre stage, Helge Tennø —a long-time strategist and innovation advisor focused on customer-centric transformations— makes the case for redefining and delivering customer value.
In this episode, he challenges the conventional reliance on engagement and sales metrics and highlights the importance of measuring real customer value, driving behavioural and strategic change - thus linking customer impact directly to business success.
Using a customer-centric four-stack framework that aligns Experience, Data, Strategy, and Culture, he offers a wealth of insights on rethinking organizational design and navigating the future of AI-driven customer experiences.

As a prolific writer and practitioner voicing customer-centricity for over two decades, Helge has guided several organizations worldwide in creating meaningful value for customers.
In this conversation, he helps us visualize what it means to step out of purely product-centric perspectives, outdated measurement systems, and rigid internal structures. 
Taking real-world examples, he explores how organizations can build a clear chain of measurement, tracking the real impact of engagement, behavioural shifts, and ultimately, business value. 
This episode is not missing, as we also touch upon the future of customer centricity, which breaks free from traditional customer journeys –  and captures the complexity, helping organizations become intuitive and human-centred.
Join us as we refocus on what truly matters: placing customers at the heart of every organization.

Key Highlights
👉 Customer-centricity is not just a mindset shift but a structural transformation, requiring organizations to embed customer needs into strategy, measurement, and ways of working.
👉 Traditional customer journeys often fail to capture complexity—organizations can instead explore designs that suit their specific requirements and aid their decision-making.
👉 Ownership in a customer-centric organization must evolve—teams should focus on owning customer outcomes rather than just products to drive meaningful impact.
👉 Rethinking measurement is crucial—organizations must stop assuming that more engagement equals success and start tracking behavioural change and long-term value creation.
👉 AI and modularization will redefine customer interactions, potentially enabling customers to self-configure their own experiences—but most businesses lack the right data to support this shift.
👉 Innovation should be embedded within daily operations, rather than being treated as a separate function or ceremonial event, to drive continuous transformation at scale.


Topics /chapters
(00:00) Bringing Customers Back to the Heart of Business
(00:56) Introducing Helge
(03:41) The importance of being a customer-centric organization
(06:37) Key Elements of a Customer Centric Transformation
(09:54) Line of Sight between Employees and Value
(13:57) Evaluating True Value
(17:15) Orchestrating Business Value in Complexity
(21:59) Driving Ownership in a Customer-Centric Organization
(26:44) Enabling Customer Based Metric System
(30:44) Technology and Modern Tool Integrations for Data Analysis
(34:57) AI and customers self-designing their experiences
(44:50) What’s the space for simplicity, aesthetics, and design?
(49:15) What’s the rebundling that’s going to put customers in the center?
(53:19) Keeping Leaders Grounded in the Chaos
(57:32) Breadcrumbs and Suggestions

Episode recorded on Jan 21, 2025

Find out more about the show and the research at Boundaryless at https://boundaryless.io/resources/podcast

Get in touch with Boundaryless:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/boundaryless_
Website: https://boundaryless.io/contacts
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/boundaryless-pdt-3eo

Music
Music from Liosound / Walter Mobilio. Find his portfolio here: https://blss.io/Podcast-Music

#114 - Bringing Customers Back to the Heart of Business - with Helge Tennø

Hey I'm Zam Man!

I'm sharing audio insights about the digital marketing space. As an Online Marketing Entrepreneur, I focus on content creation, course development, and online marketing strategies.

More resources: beacons.page/optimagain

Boundaryless helps global customers with Business Strategy and Organization Design for the age of Ecosystems.
We do it by creating openly accessible frameworks and by supporting a community of organizations, institutions, and individuals through workshops, training, and consulting services. 

In this space we host all our audio recordings, including the Boundaryless Conversations podcast, a show focused on exploring the future of large scale organising by leveraging on technology, network effects and shaping narratives. We explore how platforms can help us play with a world in turmoil, change, and transformation: a world that is at the same time more interconnected and interdependent than ever but also more conflictual and rivalrous. 

We used to be online at platformdesigntoolkit.com... now find us on our new website: www.boundaryless.io!

Email: hello@boundaryless.io

New tracks tagged #HumanCenteredDesign