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Did a notification bring you here, to this post? A ‘ping’, a flash, or perhaps just that ever-increasing number in the red circle? We spend 20% of our waking hours on our smartphone, tapping 2,500 times a day. Do you ever feel like you’re a slave to your device, rather than the other way around?

This month Siempo caught our eye. It’s a smartphone intended to help you regain control of your time and attention by prioritising the task you unlocked your phone for, not the umpteen notifications you didn’t.

It’s in keeping with a human-centric movement in design that prioritises experience over engagement. Design is an incredibly powerful tool, and when we use it to encourage positive behaviour – from budgeting better and saving energy through to working better and cleaning the air – it can be a powerful agent of behavioural change.

Here’s a prediction: brands that demonstrate an understanding of people, and use design to compensate for – rather than exploit – our foibles, will engender deeper connections with their consumers. Now that’s worth a notification.