How the PERMA framework can bring a more human perspective to technology design
Background
We have got remarkably good at building technology that gets things done. Money moves between accounts in seconds. A new language can be learned on the commute home. Whole projects run from a laptop, and there is an app for tracking nearly everything we do.
But as these tools settle into our daily routines, a different question deserves some attention: how do they make us feel, and what do they actually add to our lives?
A finance app can help someone manage their spending and still leave them anxious about money. An online course can have excellent lessons and still leave a student feeling they are falling behind. A workplace system can boost productivity while making people feel watched.
In all three cases the technology is doing exactly what it was built to do. The trouble is that finishing a task and helping a person are not always the same thing.
This is where I think positive psychology has something useful to offer. At PERMA Integrated Health, we look at how the science of wellbeing can shape the way people live, work and interact with the world around them. The PERMA framework is best known as a model of wellbeing, but it also gives anyone building an app, a software product or a digital service a practical way into human-centred technology design.
The idea is simple. What if we thought about human flourishing at the start of the design process, instead of tacking it on at the end?
Looking beyond whether a product works
When a team sets out to build something new, the focus naturally falls on requirements, functionality, security, performance and usability. None of that is optional. A banking app has to process transactions correctly, a learning platform has to get its content right, and a workplace system has to keep confidential information safe.
There is another layer, though, and it is the experience of the person on the other side of the screen.
Think of the last time a website buried a simple answer, an automated phone line sent you round in circles, or an app made you feel guilty for missing a target. Small design choices decide whether people feel confident, frustrated, supported or overwhelmed.
Those feelings matter because technology does not sit apart from real life. It becomes part of our routines, our decisions, our relationships and even the expectations we have of ourselves.
That does not mean every app should be relentlessly cheerful or every screen covered in encouraging messages. People need honest information, useful feedback and, now and then, a clear warning. What we need is technology that respects the person using it.
PERMA offers one way of thinking about what that looks like.
5 questions that could change how we design technology
Martin Seligman introduced PERMA as a framework for understanding five elements of wellbeing: positive emotion, engagement, relationships, meaning and accomplishment. Butler and Kern (2016) later developed the PERMA-Profiler to measure them.
PERMA is close to a human-centred technology design standard. Even so, its five elements give development teams a way to ask how a feature affects the people using it, rather than only whether it works.
Positive emotion: does the experience build confidence or create needless stress?
Good products communicate clearly and treat people with respect, especially when something goes wrong. A plain explanation of what happened and what to do next usually helps more than a red warning that implies the user has failed.
Engagement: does the human-centred technology design help people do something worthwhile?
Engagement is not the same as time spent on screen. Sometimes the best design is the one that lets someone finish quickly and get back to their life. The aim is to support real attention, interest and meaningful participation.
Relationships: does the product recognise that other people matter?
Much of what we do involves family, colleagues, teachers, customers or professional advisers. Technology should make collaboration and communication easier, not assume that every human interaction can be handed over to automation.
Meaning: does it connect with something the user genuinely cares about?
Nobody uses a product just for the sake of it. They might want to feel financially secure, learn a skill, look after someone, do their job well or free up time for the things they love. Understanding that bigger purpose helps teams build more relevant experiences.
Accomplishment: does it help people see genuine progress?
Progress matters, but it should not shrink down to streaks, scores and targets. A student finally grasping a difficult concept, a family building an emergency fund or an employee picking up a new skill may be making real progress that no simple counter captures.
These questions do not need to turn into five extra features. They can shape decisions teams are already making about language, notifications, personalisation, feedback and how success gets measured.
What might this look like in everyday life?
It is easier to see the value of this approach in ordinary situations. The four examples below are illustrative scenarios. They are not reports of real users or proven interventions.
1. A finance app that understands the person behind the numbers
Imagine Priya, who is saving for a home while keeping up with household expenses. Her budgeting app fires off an alert every time she spends more than expected. The information is accurate, but she has started to dread opening the app.
A different approach would still show Priya where her money is going, but in a way that does not leave her feeling judged. She could choose which notifications she gets, set a savings goal that fits her circumstances and watch small contributions add up over time.
Each part of PERMA could play a role here. Clear explanations would help Priya feel more confident, and simple budgeting tools would make the task less daunting. Optional shared planning could help a household talk about money together. A personal savings goal would link everyday decisions to a future she cares about, and a progress view could recognise steady effort without treating one unexpected bill as a failure.
The app would still need to be accurate and protect her data. The point is not to make every financial decision feel good. It is to help Priya make decisions with more understanding and more control.
2. An education platform that makes room for learning
Now consider Daniel, who is using an online platform to prepare for an important exam. He picks up some topics quickly and struggles with others. Each time he gets an answer wrong, the platform shows his score dropping.
Over time he starts to associate the whole experience with failure rather than learning.
A more thoughtful platform would explain why an answer was wrong, offer another example and let him practise a topic before moving on. It could help him see what he already knows and where he needs more support. Where it makes sense, it might also put him in touch with a teacher or a community of other learners.
Positive emotion here does not mean telling Daniel every answer is brilliant. It means helping him deal with mistakes without losing confidence. Engagement comes from active learning, and access to teachers and peers supports relationships. Linking the material to his ambitions gives it meaning, and accomplishment shows up as growing understanding rather than a count of completed lessons.
None of this would guarantee better exam results. What it gives developers is a useful set of questions to ask when they design a more supportive learning experience.
3. A healthcare appointment system that respects people’s circumstances
Picture a patient who needs to book a follow-up appointment. They have very little time, find the booking system confusing and have no idea who to contact when no suitable slot appears.
A system built purely around administrative efficiency might push them through a string of automated steps. A more human-centred one would make the next action obvious, explain the options and offer a clear route to a real person when needed.
PERMA helps teams look at the whole experience. Clear instructions cut down avoidable frustration, and an accessible booking process lets patients get it done with less effort. A way to reach the care team supports relationships. Explaining why the follow-up matters can tie the appointment to the patient’s own health goals, and a clear confirmation with next steps reassures them that it is sorted.
The technology still has to meet clinical safety, privacy and accessibility requirements, and it should never promise outcomes the service cannot deliver. The goal is to make an important interaction easier to understand and to get through.
4. A workplace system that values people, not just productivity
Finally, think about an organisation rolling out software to manage tasks and track project progress. Managers want a better view of workloads. Employees find themselves answering constant notifications and worrying about how their activity will be read.
A PERMA-informed design would begin by asking what employees and managers actually need from the system. Could tasks be prioritised more clearly? Could unnecessary alerts be cut back? Could the software help teams recognise contributions, spot development opportunities and coordinate their work without encouraging constant monitoring?
Relationships matter a great deal here. A system might improve collaboration, but it can just as easily erode trust if people feel watched with no clear reason. Meaning and accomplishment can be supported by showing how individual work connects to shared goals, and by recognising the quality of work as well as the number of tasks ticked off.
Software cannot fix every workplace problem. Unreasonable workloads, weak leadership and understaffing need action from the organisation. Technology should support that action, and it should not become a way of pinning systemic problems on individual employees.
The best time to consider wellbeing is before the product is built
Decisions made early tend to shape the whole user experience.
Once a product has been built around constant notifications, competitive rankings or rigid targets, changing them can take serious effort. It is far easier to question their purpose during discovery and design.
A team could start by talking to the people they are building for. What are they trying to achieve? What makes it difficult? What would a helpful experience look like? Where might the technology add pressure or confusion?
The team can then decide which PERMA elements are relevant, build a prototype and let users try it. Feedback might show that a simpler interface, clearer wording or a better way of recognising progress is worth more than another sophisticated feature.
Evaluation matters just as much. A product can have high adoption and still frustrate the people using it. Teams should pick measures that suit their purpose, such as task completion, accessibility, user trust, learning progress or relevant wellbeing outcomes.
Research on user experience and positive design offers a solid foundation for this wider view. Hassenzahl, Diefenbach and Göritz (2010) examined how human needs, affect and interactive products relate to one another, and Desmet and Pohlmeyer (2013) discussed how design can contribute to subjective wellbeing.
Neither paper shows that every product using PERMA will improve wellbeing. What they do is help explain why the human experience deserves a place next to technical requirements.
PERMA can add to that conversation, as long as it is used thoughtfully and tested rather than treated as a guarantee.
A different way to think about technological progress
Technology will keep getting more capable. Artificial intelligence will take on new tasks, automation will change how organisations run, and digital services will open up possibilities we can barely picture today.
More capability does not automatically mean a better human experience, though.
A system can be faster and harder to understand. An app can be more engaging and still encourage use nobody really wants. An automated service can cut costs while making it harder for someone to reach a real person.
That is why human wellbeing belongs in the conversation about progress.
For developers, it means going beyond “Can we build it?” to ask “Should it work this way, for these people, in these circumstances?”
For organisations, it means thinking about how technology affects the people who depend on it, and not only the efficiency it brings.
And for the rest of us who use technology every day, it means expecting that a good product helps us achieve something worthwhile without chipping away at our confidence, independence or relationships.
PERMA will not answer every design question. It does not replace technical quality, evidence, accessibility, privacy or ethical responsibility. Its value is that it offers a broader view of what technology is ultimately for.
At PERMA Integrated Health, we believe this conversation is worth having in every sector, from finance and education to healthcare, business and the everyday tools we all use.
Human-centred technology design should not simply make tasks easier to complete. It should be built with a thoughtful understanding of the people whose lives it becomes part of.
That is a more human measure of progress, and one worth holding on to from the very first design decision.
References
- Desmet, P. M. A., & Pohlmeyer, A. E. (2013). Positive design: An introduction to design for subjective well-being. International Journal of Design, 7(3), 5–19. https://www.ijdesign.org/index.php/IJDesign/article/view/1666
- Hassenzahl, M., Diefenbach, S., & Göritz, A. (2010). Needs, affect, and interactive products – Facets of user experience. Interacting with Computers, 22(5), 353–362. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.intcom.2010.04.002