Edric Subur on building humane tech, solving disconnectedness, and thriving in the remote work era
Product State Q&A
Edric Subur is the Founder and CEO at Warmspace. He formerly worked at Google, Twitter, and VISA. He’s also the Co-Founder of Huvo, and Leggo.
Medium / LinkedIn
EC: You’re a proponent of building humane tech. What kind of principles do you follow to do this?
ES: This is an unprecedented moment in history, with the well-being and sense of democracy on a global scale being shaped by a small number of powerful people in the technology industry.
In response to these challenges, technology companies must shift their focus from growth metrics alone, and consider the wider impact of their products on society. With great power comes great responsibility.
These are the top three paradigm shifts I think are necessary in building humane technology, inspired by the Center for Humane Technology:
Acknowledging Human Vulnerabilities: Rather than constantly feeding users with things they want — such as dopamine hits, confirmation biases, and validation — technology needs to take into account the vulnerabilities of its users. People are often not the best judges of what is good for them, and can easily be influenced to make decisions that are not in their best interest. Products should be designed with these vulnerabilities in mind, making the right choices easier and more intuitive.
Focusing on Deeper Human Goals: Instead of obsessing over metrics like engagement and retention, technology should prioritize the understanding and fulfillment of deeper human needs. This calls the need for measuring more things that matter like the improvement in relationships, the decrease in hate comments, and the overall well-being of users. By keeping the impact of technology on people’s lives at the forefront, creators can ensure they are serving the needs of humanity — and not just driving clicks and screen time.
Nurture awareness: Instead of being solely obsessed with capturing user attention, technology should focus on cultivating awareness. By fostering an understanding of their relationship with technology, users can make more conscious and deliberate choices. This involves prompting reflection on how technology is being utilized and highlighting meaningful insights that drive healthy behaviors that can enhance their lives.
EC: What’s the story behind Warmspace?
ES: Never before have we been this connected as a species than we are today. An average person has hundreds to thousands of friends on social media. Endless stream of news and entertainment is at our fingertips 24/7. We can learn anything and virtually reach anyone on the internet. Yet, we’ve also never felt more disconnected.
Even before COVID-19, loneliness has been on the rise. A 2020 study reported that 45% of adults globally report feeling lonely on a regular basis, and Gen-Z, the supposed most connected generation, feels the loneliest of all. In a 2018 survey, 76% of respondents believed their country was becoming more divided, with 60% thinking it was getting worse than it was ten years ago.
The state of our society, combined with the desire to design a humane technology that reconnects us with our humanity has led me to found Warmspace.
Warmspace is a guided conversation platform that allows people to access connection experts on demand to improve the quality of their relationships. Our technology digitizes the presence of a facilitator in a conversation through audio guidance, text prompts and interactive engagement.
We believe that having the right structure and guidance in a conversation can provide psychological safety for people to be real and connect in deeper ways. About 80% of our users saw improved well-being after a session and reported feeling less alone, more uplifted, and experiencing therapeutic effects.
EC: What are some of the challenges of remote work you’re looking to solve?
ES: Remote work has become a standard practice for many industries worldwide. While the pandemic may have catalyzed this trend, it has also revealed the lasting benefits of remote work. It has enabled companies to attract top talent from a global pool, reduce overhead costs, and provide employees with more flexibility.
However, remote work also presents unique challenges. One of the main complexities of remote work is the potential for isolation and disconnection from colleagues. According to Buffer's State of Remote Work report, 19% of remote workers identified loneliness as their biggest struggle. Another survey by Owl Labs found that remote workers feel 29% less connected to their colleagues than those who work in traditional office settings.
Less face time means fewer opportunities for non-work related conversations, spontaneous collaboration, and social get-togethers, which are all necessary for building trust and team spirit. Weak relationships at work can gradually lead to decreased productivity, engagement, and even commitment to stay with the organization.
To address these challenges, companies must put more intentional effort into cultivating connections in remote work. This includes investing in communication tools and strategies that foster collaboration and a sense of community. The mistake many companies do is throwing some virtual social hours and thinking it solves the problem.
The truth is, the critical elements in physical connection can’t just be ported to a virtual space. In a remote setting, you can’t just walk to someone on a whim and strike up a conversation. You can’t see someone’s full body language. You can’t have parallel conversations in a group. Connections happen in a more deliberate form in remote work. Things have to be scheduled in advance and forms of engagement are more limited.
It doesn’t mean that meaningful connections can’t happen in remote settings. It simply requires a different strategy. The lack of spontaneity and frequency can be made up with more depth in each limited encounter. Leaders can provide facilitation in a virtual gathering so that everyone has the opportunity to speak and get heard. HR can create opportunities for 1:1 connections and provide meaningful prompts in advance.
Connection can also be integrated into business routines instead of being a standalone thing, such as dedicating the first 5-minutes in any meeting for people to share how they are doing. At Warmspace, we’ve built experiences that are exactly optimized to facilitate meaningful connections that work for remote teams.
Remote work is here to stay. It has brought a lot of freedom and advantages for both companies and employees. The companies that will thrive in the new work era, however, are those who put extra attention into building strong connections among their remote teams.
“By keeping the impact of technology on people’s lives at the forefront, creators can ensure they are serving the needs of humanity — and not just driving clicks and screen time.”
- Edric Subur, Warmspace
