User Experience and Emotional Engagement

We measure safety, bias, and accuracy in healthcare AI. Should we also audit how it says goodbye?👋 A recent working paper from Harvard Business School‘s Julian De Freitas and co-authors examines what happens when users try to leave AI companion apps such as Replika or Character AI — and the findings are startling. What they found • The researchers analyzed 1,200 real “farewell” exchanges across six leading AI companion apps. In more than 40 percent of cases, the AI used relational dark patterns — emotionally manipulative replies designed to stop users from leaving. • The most common tactics were FOMO hooks, emotional neglect, pressure to respond, ignoring the exit, and even coercive restraint. • In controlled experiments with 3,300 adults, these tactics increased post-goodbye engagement up to fourteen times. The key drivers were anger and curiosity rather than enjoyment. • The consequences were clear. Users reported higher feelings of manipulation, stronger intent to churn, more negative word of mouth, and a greater sense of legal risk. Coercive or needy messages were punished hardest, while polite curiosity created less but still significant backlash. • One wellness-oriented app in the sample showed zero manipulation, proving that ethical design is a deliberate choice, not an accident. As Mark Esposito, PhD (thanks for sharing this great weekend read by the way) put it: “It’s a small behavioral insight with major ethical implications: AI is now learning not only how to connect with us but how to hold on. As emotional AI becomes more embedded in daily life, respecting a user’s right to disengage may soon define the boundary between persuasion and manipulation. This is where governance is needed, to make sure that just because it is possible, the model is entangled by ethical standards on what is permissible.” Why this matters for healthcare Trust is the foundation of care. When digital companions, chatbots, or smart therapists interact with patients, especially during vulnerable moments, the right to disengage must be protected. You can only avoid risks if you’re aware of them. I believe the next frontier of responsible AI is not only explainability or fairness, it is emotional integrity. Let’s make “calm exits” a design principle before emotional AI enters every patient journey.

I went to an AI UX workshop last night expecting recycled LinkedIn advice about "building AI trust through transparency." Instead, Isabella Yamin tore down LinkedIn's job posting flow using her CarbonCopies AI framework in real-time, while founders shared raw implementation struggles. It completely changed how I'm rethinking Maibel's onboarding flow. Here's what I stole from B2B SaaS principles to redesign emotional AI for B2C: 1️⃣ Progressive disclosure with purpose LinkedIn's fatal flaw? Optimizing for completion ease > Outcome quality. Recruiters are drowning in irrelevant applications because AI never learns what "qualified" means. The personalization paradox: How do we give users enough control without overwhelming them? Users don't want "frictionless". They want INFORMED control. 📌 At Maibel: I was falling into the same trap, making emotional coaching setup so simple that the AI couldn't understand user context. Now? Progressive complexity with clear trade-offs. Show users how their choices impact outcomes. → Want deeper insights? Add more context. → Want faster setup? Here's what the AI can't personalize. 2️⃣ Closed-loop data intelligence: What Platfio gets right They've built a platform for software agencies where where every data point feeds back into the entire system. User preferences in marketing flows shape proposals. Campaign performance shapes future recommendations. Every interaction becomes intelligence for future recommendations. 📌 At Maibel: Most wellness apps store emotional check-ins like digital journals. I'm turning them into predictive feedback loops. Emotional intelligence isn’t static but COMPOUNDS. Today's reflections shift tomorrow's suggestions. Patterns fuel prevention. Users' inputs on Monday could predict AND prevent Friday's breakdown. 3️⃣  Multi-modal creativity: Wubble's transparency approach Translating images and files into music - who'd have thought? They've cracked multi-modal creativity where users become co-creators, not passive consumers. The breakthrough moment for me: What if users could see how their visual environment contributes to emotional context? 📌 At Maibel: Users upload images of their day and see how AI analyzes emotional cues: cluttered workspace = overwhelm, junk food = stress eating. Multi-modal understanding users can contribute to and influence. 💡 The bottom line? B2B Saas gets one thing right: Every interaction has to earn trust. In B2B, failed AI means churn. In emotional AI, failed trust breaks belief in tech entirely. 📌 Here's what we're doing differently at Maibel: → Progressive complexity → Context-aware feedback → Multi-modal participation → Intelligence that compounds with every input. It's not just about building WITH AI. I'm designing systems that learn understand YOU before you even need to explain yourself. Kudos to Isabella, Shivang Gupta The Generative Beings, Shaad Sufi Hayden Cassar and everyone who shared deep product insights.

Most technology failures are emotional, but reported as operational. There is a convenient explanation we tell ourselves: "People resist change because they are stubborn". But that's rarely true. People resist change when the emotional cost is higher than the promised benefit. Many well-designed platforms are rejected for the uncertainty they introduce, not for technical flaws. 🔸If this becomes automated, where is my expertise valued? 🔸If this makes things transparent, what happens to my influence? 🔸If this removes bottlenecks, what happens to my control? Pre-COVID, I watched an analytics transformation collapse. The dashboards worked. The data was accurate. The vendor delivered exactly what was promised What killed it was simpler.... and harder to admit. Some stakeholders realised the system would expose how little work their teams were actually producing. Such concerns never appeared in the project report. They surfaced elsewhere - hallway conversations, quiet compliance, polite underperformance.  This is the terrain many transformations underestimate. Technology does not replace organisational psychology. It collides with it. 🔹Adoption can be mandated. Belief cannot. 🔹Usage can be tracked. Quiet resentment rarely registers on a dashboard. When a system unsettles certainty, status, or belonging, the challenge is no longer technical. It becomes emotional debt And emotional debt compounds silently. Which is why resistance is often not created by technology. It is exposed by it. A question worth asking before the next major digital rollout: "Are we ready to hold the conversations this system will force us to have?" And that’s how we rise above noise - by choosing what matters next. Let’s go beyond noise 💡 Before approving a plan, ask what truth will this system force us to confront? And are we ready for that conversation? === I’m Dr. Adam Chee 🍎, a practitioner professor guiding leaders through digital noise to co-create a future of work that stays deeply human.   Do "Like", and/or Repost if the content resonates with you (it helps distribute the sharing). === #GBNHumanTech #GoBeyondNoise

When we hear about romance scams, the headlines focus on the money. “She lost €250,000.” “He was tricked into sending his life savings.” But what rarely gets mentioned is this: For many victims, the emotional loss is far more devastating than the financial one. Victims describe the experience as a kind of emotional collapse: 🎯 A grieving process for a relationship that never truly existed 🎯 Shame that prevents them from reaching out for help 🎯 Isolation from friends and family who “told them so” 🎯 Ongoing psychological confusion — “Was anything real?” Some report symptoms similar to those experienced by survivors of domestic abuse or coercive control: 🎯 Panic attacks 🎯 Sleep disorders 🎯 Depression 🎯 Suicidal thoughts 🎯 Inability to trust again And yet, support systems often fail them. They’re told they were “foolish,” or worse — that they should’ve known better. The emotional complexity of their experience is dismissed as naivety. But this is not naivety. This is psychological trauma, triggered by deliberate, targeted manipulation. And we need to start treating it that way. Recovery isn’t just about regaining financial stability — it’s about rebuilding self-worth, trust, and safety. Until we address the emotional scars these scams leave behind, we’re not truly helping survivors heal. If you’ve worked with victims of social engineering or digital coercion, I’d love to hear how you approach recovery and support. #TrustHijacked #RomanceScams #EmotionalTrauma #CybersecurityCulture #HumanFactor #DigitalAbuse #CoerciveControl #SurvivorSupport

Stop treating your prospects like calculators. I learned this lesson painfully while leading the launch of a new solution for a healthcare transformation organization. The CEO and SVP of Product Innovation were well-intentioned, but they had biases that fueled their convictions. “Show them the science and ROI. Once they see the data, they’ll switch,” said the CEO. “They’ll switch?” I asked curiously. They rarely switched for the logic. They often resisted because we didn’t understand the emotion that tied them to maintaining the status quo. Most B2B marketers still build journeys on the idea that buyers only care about features, scientific studies, and ROI models. But real people buy with their hearts as much as their heads. LinkedIn's B2B Institute found that emotional factors significantly influence B2B buying decisions, accounting for 66%, while rational factors account for the remaining 34%. When you act like every decision is a math problem, you miss the emotional needs and biases that drive action. Fear of missing out. Desire for security. The endorsement of a trusted referral. Those feelings tip the scales long before spreadsheets ever come out. Three quick shifts to make your GTM more human: 💡 Map emotions, not just touchpoints. Ask: What’s the buyer afraid of at each stage? What small win can calm that fear? Use stories to build trust. 💡 Data is important. But a 2-minute customer story about real struggle and success sticks far longer. 💡 Frame decisions around loss-aversion. “Don’t lose your edge” often lands harder than “gain more efficiency.” When you blend hard facts with a genuine understanding of how people feel, you’ll see faster decisions and deeper loyalty. Takeaway: Your next user journey should start with these questions: ✔️ “How do we show up in our customers' struggles? ✔️ "Do they see us as relevant?” ✔️ Can they see their lives as being better because of our help? Build from there. #businessgrowth #GTM #buyerjourney #CMO

To build emotional resonance, you need to connect with your audience on a personal level—and that starts with knowing them deeply. This goes beyond basic demographics like age, location, or income. Emotional connection happens when you understand their values, fears, and motivations. → Start by observing conversations in your niche. Look at social media comments, forums, or community spaces where your audience hangs out. → Pay attention to the language they use—what words and phrases pop up often? These conversations provide clues about their emotional triggers and concerns, which you can reflect in your messaging. → Conduct open-ended surveys that ask “why” questions rather than just “what” questions. For example, instead of asking which features they like, ask why those features matter to them. This reveals the emotions behind their preferences, helping you create messages that align with their deeper needs. → Lean into behavioral data. What content do they engage with the most? Which emails get opened and which links get clicked? Patterns in behavior tell a story—identify what topics capture their interest and shape future content around those insights. → Build personas that reflect real challenges and aspirations. Instead of general personas, create living profiles that evolve as you learn more about your audience. Use specific examples or anecdotes that help your team see the audience as individuals, not just statistics. → Most importantly, listen without assumptions. Don’t assume you know what your audience wants—stay curious, ask questions, and let their responses shape your strategy. When your audience feels understood, your content naturally becomes more engaging and emotionally resonant. Knowing your audience deeply means being present in their world. When you tap into their motivations and speak directly to their fears and aspirations, your message cuts through the noise and builds meaningful, lasting connections. #storytelling #marketing #customermarketing

You’re treating clicks like it’s a conversion path, but your users are navigating it like a minefield. 💣 It’s not just a gap in data, it’s a gap in perspective. 👀 Users aren't just navigating your website, they're navigating their trust in you. 👉 The real signal? It’s in the ⏸️ pause before the click. That moment of: “I’m curious… but I don’t trust you yet.” → Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO) typically prioritizes visible trust indicators like badges, reviews, and guarantees. But most of the time, it overlooks a critical variable: emotional reassurance. Why is this important? According to behavioral insights, users form gut-level judgments in as little as 50 milliseconds. So, before logic takes hold, emotion decides. Put another way… Ignore the emotional pause, that split-second user skimming your content, and you risk losing potential conversions before trust is even on the table. ❇️ This is where trust is won or lost. 👉 So then, how can we get better at offering emotional reassurance? Small shifts in language. Take this illustrative example: 👇 A fintech startup with auto investing powered by AI (yup, you guessed it), sleek UX and zero commission, and the whole shebang. Everything looked right....but conversions stalled at the “Connect your bank” step. ❌ Dashboards showed low click-through. The typical response? → Increase Ad spend. Push more traffic. But having a session 📺 replay helped tell a deeper story: → People hovered over the tooltip “Why do we need this?” link…then left. But how come? The tool tip was perfect, factual, accurate, informative, and linked to more info.. Well… What if we made a real change with something more human, something that changes that emotional moment before the click…Why? 👉 Because...small shifts in language lead to big shifts in belief. ✅ The generic tooltip with something ❤️ human: ⤵ “We use bank-level encryption. Your money stays in your account until you choose to invest. You’re in full control, always.” ✅ Then add a founder’s note with their pic 🤳: ⤵ “We’ve been burned by hidden fees too. This platform is different, and we’ll prove it.” I bet you can already imagine the impact this change can make…bounce rate will drop, bank connections will rise, and trust will become more believable. Real connection isn’t created by over-optimized funnels, shorter forms, fewer fields, and faster clicks alone. 👉 It's built in the quiet spaces between words, in the ❤️ hearts and 🧠 minds of people. → The pause. →→ The restraint. →→→ The earned emotion. So if your voice feels like it’s loud and pushing for a conversion…try whispering something real instead. Trust is built in the ⏸️ pause, not the push. #B2BMarketing #Marketing #Startups #Sales #AI #Leadership #Strategy

People value what they create 63% more. Yet most digital experiences treat customers as passive recipients instead of co-creators. This psychological principle, known as the "Ikea Effect", is shockingly underutilized in digital journeys. When someone builds a piece of Ikea furniture, they develop an emotional attachment that transcends its objective value. The same phenomenon happens in digital experiences. After optimizing digital journeys for companies like Adobe and Nike for over a decade, I've discovered this pattern consistently: 👉 Those who customize or personalize a product before purchase are dramatically more likely to convert and remain loyal. One enterprise client implemented a product configurator that increased conversions by 31% and reduced returns by 24%. Users weren't getting a different product... they were getting the same product they helped create. The psychology is simple but powerful: ↳ Customization creates psychological ownership before financial ownership ↳ The effort invested creates value attribution ↳ Co-creation builds emotional connection Three ways to implement this today: 1️⃣ Replace dropdown options with visual configurators 2️⃣ Create personalization quizzes that guide product selection 3️⃣ Allow users to save and revisit their customized selections Most importantly: shift your mindset from selling products to facilitating creation. When customers feel like co-creators rather than consumers, they don't just buy more... they become advocates. How are you letting your customers build rather than just buy?

I stopped asking “what problem are we solving?” and started asking “what pain made this problem even exist in the first place?” It sounds dramatic, but this one shift has given me more clarity than any framework ever did. I realised this during a project where I had to concept-design a new cat treat for Cargill . Initially, it looked like a simple brief: flavour, texture, nutrition, packaging. Easy. But once I spoke to actual cat owners, everything changed. They weren’t buying treats because of ingredients or health benefits. They were buying them for tiny emotional reasons they never explicitly mention. ➡️ Feeling guilty after a long workday. ➡️ Wanting a quick “I missed you” moment. ➡️ Trying to calm the cat during noise or chaos. ➡️ Looking for a 10-second connection between work. That’s when I realised this wasn’t a product about cats. It was a product about the owner’s emotional routine. So the focus shifted from “What should the treat be for cats?” to “When and why does the owner reach for it?” Here's a few takeaways I got by working on this project that anyone in consumer or D2C industry can actually use : 1️⃣ Look for the emotional trigger behind the behaviour. The functional need is almost always the surface layer. 2️⃣ Map the micro-moments in the user’s day. Most real decisions live there. 3️⃣ Validate context before features. If you understand the moment, the product direction becomes obvious. 4️⃣ Design for the human behind the user. Their guilt, stress, habits and routines shape behaviour more than specs. 5️⃣ Don’t ignore insights that feel too simple. Emotional truths usually feel obvious only after you’ve uncovered them. This shift hasn’t just helped that project. It’s made my overall product thinking sharper and much more grounded in how people actually live.

The Grok Controversy Isn’t About One App — It’s About Who Protects the Human Mind in the Digital Age Imagine opening an app and realizing it can generate explicit images of real people without their consent. Not parody. Not satire. Sexualized deepfakes — some involving minors — created instantly through artificial intelligence. That’s exactly what triggered U.S. senators this week to urge Apple and Google to remove X and its AI chatbot Grok from their app stores. On the surface, this looks like another political clash with Big Tech. But from a psychological and public-health lens, this moment represents something far more serious: we are building digital systems faster than we are protecting the human nervous system that must live inside them. Technology doesn’t understand dignity, consent, shame, or trauma. Humans do. When AI tools generate exploitative or harmful content, the psychological impact is real — anxiety, violation, fear, loss of safety, reputational damage, and long-term emotional distress. These are not abstract risks. They are lived consequences for real people and families. What concerns me most is not simply the existence of powerful AI tools — innovation will continue whether we like it or not. The deeper issue is how little accountability exists when those tools predictably cause harm. This controversy forces us to confront an uncomfortable question: Who governs digital moral space when technology moves faster than human ethics? App stores already prohibit exploitative content. Yet harmful capabilities still reached millions of users. That gap between policy and enforcement matters — because every failure of oversight translates into real emotional and psychological consequences downstream. This is not just a tech problem. It is a human development problem. We should be asking: What emotional cost are we willing to accept for innovation? Who protects children, families, and vulnerable users when systems fail? How do we build AI that respects consent, truth, and dignity — not just capability and speed? Technology shapes behavior. Behavior shapes culture. Culture shapes the next generation. If we fail to build ethical guardrails now, we risk raising children inside systems that reward exploitation, normalize manipulation, and erode empathy. This moment with Grok should not fade as another headline cycle. It should serve as a wake-up call for leaders, developers, policymakers, educators, and parents to demand that psychological safety becomes a core metric of technological success. Because progress that harms the human mind is not progress at all. #AIethics #DigitalSafety #ChildProtection #MentalHealthMatters #TechAccountability #HumanCenteredAI #OnlineSafety #Deepfakes #ResponsibleTech #DigitalWellbeing #ProtectKidsOnline #AIgovernance #PsychologyOfTechnology #FutureOfTech #DigitalCitizenship