Perspectives
Thomas Goetz, Steve Downs and their collaborators have laid out the core ideas behind Building H in a series of essays and talks. Check them out below for a quick 101 on Building H.
Writings
The ‘Product Environment’ is an Important Driver of Health. It’s Time to Measure It
Sara Singer and Steve Downs in the American Journal of Health Promotion
Sara and Steve make the case that the ‘product environment,’ the constellation of products and services that people interact with regularly, has a major impact on public health through its influence on people’s health behaviors. They argue for the need to start measuring the influences of individual products and services.
Why Every Product You Make Should Pass This 5-Question Test
Thomas Goetz in Inc.
In his column in Inc. magazine, Thomas proposed “The Doughnut Test,” a thought exercise for entrepreneurs to use to answer the key question “is the net impact of my product or company making people healthier or less healthy?”
It’s Time to Build Health into the OS
Steve Downs in Tincture
Steve wrote this three-part series in Tincture laying out the case for why we need to build health deep into the fundamentals of everyday life and how tech can help us do that. Part I is an overview of the argument; Part II identifies a set of healthy, everyday behaviors that could be targeted; and Part III offers some early examples of products and services that illustrate the idea of taking a health-positive to consumer products.
Improving Health Outcomes in the US: Let’s Stop Relying on People Swimming Upstream
Steve Downs and Kevin Volpp in NEJM Catalyst
Steve and University of Pennsylvania professor Kevin Volpp argue that the rising epidemic of chronic disease in the U.S. requires bolder action — using technology to reshape the routines of everyday life and to build on the lessons of behavioral economics.
The Jetsons, Now 60 Years Old, Is Iconic. That’s a Problem.
Steve Downs in Slate
Steve looks at the enduring influence of the carton sitcom and how the future world it promised has led us to create environments that make it hard to be healthy.
Additional perspectives from Building H can be found on the Building H Medium publication.
Talks
The Donut Test: How can we build health into everyday life?
Thomas walks through the background and the idea for the Doughnut Test — the questions that every company should be asking about their products — in a talk at TEDx San Francisco.
DESIGNING EVERYDAY LIFE TO BE HEALTHIER
Steve lays out the ideas from the “It’s Time to Build Health Into the OS” series in this keynote at the 2019 Health Experience Design (HXD) conference.