How can we use technology as tools instead of letting our technology use us? This practical book explores the concept of calm technology, a method for smoothly capturing the user's attention only when necessary, while calmly remaining in the user's periphery most of the time. You'll learn how to design products that work well, launch well, are easy to support, easy to use, and don't get in the way of a user's life. Old systems and bad interfaces will plague us if we don't learn how to design for the long term. By writing code that's small instead of large, and making simple systems rather than complex ones, we can begin to design technology that gets out of our way. Discover principles that follow the human lifestyle and environment in mind, allowing technology to amplify humanness instead of taking it away Delve into types of alerts, product launch, "calming" technology, and tech that smoothly enters people's lives Learn from a trained anthropologist and a technology hobbyist who sits on the edge between technology and how people use it This book is ideal for anyone who actively builds or makes decisions about technology, including user experience designers, product designers, managers, creative directors, and developers.