I just saw an interesting analysis of Evan Spiegel’s perspective on the role of technology. The co-founder of Snapchat believes what product design should do is enhance humanity—not push us further apart.

What grips me is his view on developing personal technology. Evan Spiegel emphasizes that as technology becomes more deeply integrated into our lives, founders who think about making it personal and genuinely support humanity have a real advantage.

He talks about an age-old problem with computers—in the past, they often pulled us out of society and into the home, creating an authentic, solitary experience. But Snapchat was built with a different mindset. From the start, the team thought about connecting digital experiences with what’s right in front of you now, and then inspiring creativity.

The key point I find is his observation of smartphone addiction. He describes a scene that’s all too common—everyone in the line waiting to be served, staring at their phones—which reflects a broader problem in how technology is designed.

Evan Spiegel also points out unintended outcomes of design. He explains why data is kept forever—because in the era of magnetic hard drives, it was expensive to delete data, so it was kept instead. This is a perfect example of how technical decisions can affect human behavior for decades.

He notices something else as well—people want social-media experiences that reflect human emotion, not just “likes” and popularity contests. Snapchat changed the way we communicate by using images. Snapchat selfies are more prevalent than on all of the iPhone platforms—a surprising statistic—but it tells us that people use images to communicate.

Another important lesson Evan Spiegel shares is the importance of decentralization. The team spent all their time perfecting the software, but didn’t think enough about how to bring the product to people. That’s a hard lesson for many entrepreneurs.

The importance of considering ethics when developing technology is a central theme in his view. He says some people are developing technology to deny humanity—an especially sharp observation—while Evan Spiegel and his team are thinking about how to use technology to strengthen genuine connection.

This perspective on conscious design and considering its impact on people—that’s what sets sustainable technology companies apart from those that only follow trends.