Google Creative Labs

Refocusing well-being on the emotional side of mental health.

Digital well-being implies mindful use of technology. The antidote to social media addiction or distracting games follows the same logic. Simply put down your device.

But it's not so simple when our whole lives pulse through an internet connection. The problem isn't just one of misspent time or low productivity. Shame, outrage, and anxiety chip away at our mental health when we are engaged with tech. Digital well-being is emotional.

In the context of a hackathon, Googlers were tasked with developing innovative ways to address the emotional side of experience. Each team focused on a feeling like calm or warmth or even intimacy as a lens for innovative new ideas about digital well-being.

Go Deeper

• You can check out Google’s digital well-being experiments (opens new window) or learn more about our thoughts on digital well-being.
• Engadget (opens new window) on phone minimalism
• Quartz (opens new window) on how we don't need to disconnect to support our well-being
• CBC (opens new window) on designing for happiness and well-being
• Design is [Emotion] (opens new window) @ Google Talks talk by founder Pamela Pavliscak