Software as Medium

Software is an emotional medium like film or music, not just a functional tool

Bob Baxley
35 years of product design wisdom from Apple, Disney, Pinterest and beyond

Software as Medium

"A very small group of people in and around Stanford University saw software as a new form of media on par with movies, music and books... When I heard that, all of a sudden I went, wait a second, boom. That is why I do this." - Bob Baxley

What It Is

Software is not merely a tool—it's an emotional medium, comparable to film, music, or literature. Every piece of software evokes an emotional response in its users. They feel confused or empowered, like their world has gotten bigger or smaller. Unlike hammers, calculators, or pulleys, software carries an emotional dimension that most builders ignore.

This insight traces back to the founding of personal computing in Northern California in the late 1960s. As documented by Fred Turner in "From Counterculture to Cyberculture," the reason personal computing emerged in the Bay Area (when every major tech company was on the East Coast) was because a small group of people—influenced by the counterculture movement—saw software as a new creative medium, not just a business tool.

Once you accept that software is a medium, you can stop leaving emotional impact to chance and start designing for it intentionally. The question shifts from "Does this feature work?" to "What do we want users to FEEL?"

How It Works

The framework reframes how we think about software quality:

  1. Emotional response is unavoidable - Every interaction produces a feeling. You're either designing that feeling intentionally or leaving it to chance.

  2. Anonymous scale amplifies impact - Software touches millions of people, but creators never see their users. This anonymity makes it easy to forget the emotional weight of each interaction.

  3. Visual design isn't subjective - When executives say "this just comes down to opinion," they're wrong. Choosing blue vs red will elicit different emotional responses. Design choices should be tied to intended feelings.

  4. Frustration accumulates - Almost everyone living in a modern economy has hundreds of interactions with software daily. When Baxley asks audiences if they've had a frustrating software experience today, most hands go up—even when it's 10am.

  5. Moral dimension - Because software touches so many people so often, builders have an obligation to return emotional energy to users' lives rather than drain it.

How to Apply It

  1. Define the emotional goal - Before designing, ask: "What do we want users to feel when using this?" Empowered? Delighted? Confident?

  2. Watch people use software - Go observe strangers at airports, self-checkout lines, or restaurants with tablet ordering. Notice the confusion and frustration on their faces. Build empathy for "mere mortals."

  3. Consider the full context - Your product isn't someone's whole world. It's "just one more browser tab." Users don't want to learn your software; they want to get home and pet their dogs.

  4. Think about invisible moments - Like Baxley's Toast example: when grandma pays the check at dinner, will your software make her look like a superhero or a fool in front of her grandkids?

  5. Develop medium intuition - Musicians go to concerts, filmmakers go to movies, comedians go to clubs. Product people need to actively find ways to watch humans interact with software to understand the medium.

  6. Remember the first time - Recall your first experience with a computer or smartphone—the magic, the sense of the future arriving. That's what software CAN feel like.

When to Use It

  • When starting a new product and defining its essence
  • When team members dismiss design as "just opinion"
  • When prioritizing polish vs features
  • When onboarding new team members to product philosophy
  • When you need to reconnect with why software work matters

Source

  • Guest: Bob Baxley
  • Episode: "35 years of product design wisdom from Apple, Disney, Pinterest and beyond"
  • Key Discussion: (00:53:51) - Tells the story of discovering this concept through the Raw Data podcast and Fred Turner's book
  • YouTube: Watch on YouTube

Related Frameworks

  • None currently linked
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