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You’ve added automations, templates, triggers, integrations which are all meant to save time.
But somehow, it still feels clunky.
People forget to update things.
Notifications stack up.
The “system” feels more like something to fight with than something that helps.
Your team isn’t resisting change.
They’re resisting friction.
The automation just doesn’t feel human.
Too often, automation is designed from the software’s point of view, not the person’s.
We ask humans to work like the machine instead of building systems that work like humans.
So the system feels rigid, confusing, or bossy.
It adds clicks. It interrupts flow.
And the very thing meant to save time quietly burns more of it.
From “make humans follow the system” To “make the system follow humans.”
The best systems act like an exceptional assistant, they anticipate what you need, help quietly, never getting in the way.
It’s not about efficiency for efficiency’s sake.
It’s about flow that feels natural.
When you automate like a human:
Most systems fail because they're built in isolation, one person automating “their bit” without seeing how people actually behave.
When I help a business automate, we start by watching how work really moves:
where people click, what they double-check, where they copy-paste, where they pause.
That’s where the design begins.
Step 1: Make work happen where people already are.
Don’t drag people into new tools if they already have habits that work. Put the automation or system elements in the platforms they already live in. If they live out of their inbox then have a system that works that way, if they like a chat-based environment like Slack do it there, if they need to fill in time sheets for client work then put the work tasks in the same place.
Every time you save a click, you build adoption.
Step 2: Capture what humans already do well.
Notice what people already do naturally, find the bright spots. Then automate the repetitive bits around that behaviour.
The goal is to make their instincts more efficient, not redesign them.
Step 3: Make it feel like a great assistant.
Prefill what’s obvious. Add smart prompts right before someone would normally think, “What’s next?” Place information exactly where it will be used.
Good automation never shouts; it nudges.
Step 4: Respect psychology.
People need to feel in control. They’ll only trust systems they understand and can override.
So every automation should make it obvious what’s happening, when, and why, AND have a clear off-ramp for human judgment.
Step 5: Handle exceptions gracefully.
No automation covers every case. Design it to pause and ask: “This looks unusual, do you want to review?”
That single moment of respect for human nuance builds enormous trust (and stops people from working around it)
Step 6: Test with real users, not assumptions.
Before you automate something for good, show it to the people who’ll actually live with it. Ask what feels helpful, what feels annoying, what they wish it did differently.
Automate with people, not for them.
🤖 1 | Where are you forcing people to move tools?
If your system makes people jump between apps, pull it closer to where they already are.
🧠 2 | What do people already do that’s working?
Automate around good behaviour, not against it.
Ask your team: “What’s the one boring part of your day you’d love to stop doing?”
💬 3 | How does it feel to use?
Watch someone go through your automated process.
Do they feel guided or managed?
If it doesn’t feel intuitive, it’s time to simplify.
Automation should feel like a partner, not a replacement.
A human-first system:
When automation honours human flow, everyone wins - the humans, the clients, and the data.
When you automate like a human, work flows instead of jerks, and Information lands where it’s needed. People stay in control, but they no longer carry the load.
Shift 2 is about empathy in design.
When systems behave like humans, humans actually use the systems.
This is Shift 2 of 14 from the Human-First Systems Playbook.
👉 You can download the full guide here: www.timewisely.co.uk/14-shifts
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