Steve Downs

Working at the intersection of tech, health and everyday life. Co-founder @building_h. I’m @stephenjdowns on Threads.

[Steve Downs @stephenjdowns]

Today is the 60th anniversary of The Jetsons and I have a piece out in @Slate's @FutureTenseNow on how that iconic cartoon sitcom has shaped our lives, for better and for worse. https://t.co/cdg0fGkHMw

[Steve Downs @stephenjdowns]

Please vote for our #SOCAPOpen session! Well be discussing how the ‘H” of health fits into ESG and socially responsible investing. Shouldn’t companies whose products promote health be prioritized over companies whose don’t? Vote here: https://t.co/AMmFYNwTp4

[Building H @building_h]

Over the next few days we'll be sharing some of the key quotes and takeaways from the 2024 #BuildingHIndex, starting with this one:

https://t.co/LFBCesMawb

[Building H @building_h]

#BuildingHIndex https://t.co/LFBCesMawb

[News Medical @NewsMedical]

Everyday products ranked for health impact: Which ones are harming you and which are making you healthier? 🚴🏡🥗 https://t.co/9FNcjemaDU #healthimpact #consumerhealth #healthyliving #publichealth #health #corporateresponsibility @building_h @phidotorg

[Building H @building_h]

Head over to https://t.co/LFBCesMawb to see how different products affect five health behaviors of their users: eating, physical activity, sleep, social engagement and time spent outdoors. #buildinghindex

[Eric Topol @EricTopol]

Rating >75 companies across 4 sectors for promoting health
https://t.co/YXmsbQMU7k
Best scores: bicycle companies
Worst scores: Netflix, Hulu, Grubhub, DoorDash, Apple TV
@building_h @tgoetz @stephenjdowns

[Steve Downs @stephenjdowns]

Making everyday life healthy by design requires grappling with where we are and establishing accountability going forward. That’s why we’re highlighting the effects that so many of today’s popular products and services have on the health behaviors of their users.

[Steve Downs @stephenjdowns]

We created the Building H Index to focus attention on an important idea: that the products and services of everyday life have profound effects on people’s health by shaping their health behaviors.

[Building H @building_h]

We’ve just released the 2024 #BuildingHIndex, which rates and ranks more than 75 popular products from Netflix, Uber, Apple, Chick-fil-A and more, on how they influence the health of their users. See the rankings at https://t.co/LFBCesMawb #BuildingHIndex

[Steve Downs @stephenjdowns]

As AI and other new technologies emerge, they will reshape our daily routines and as our work demonstrates, if we don’t intentionally design them to produce health — they won’t.

[Building H @building_h]

Which products bring us together? #BuildingHIndex

[Building H @building_h]

Which products actually promote better sleep? And which seem to treat sleep like the competition? #BuildingHIndex

[Building H @building_h]

spoiler alert: it's not just food companies that can affect our diets...

[Building H @building_h]

psst... pass it on

[Steve Downs @stephenjdowns]

Really excited for this to drop on Monday!

[Steve Downs @stephenjdowns]

@kimbbellard @SusannahFox @GraceCordovano Gosh — shades of Project HealthDesign! Great to see this.

[Building H @building_h]

We’re excited by our work to assess how popular products are affecting our health. Join us by signing up for a short scoring exercise: https://t.co/g9DsfDhExe

[Building H @building_h]

.@ARPA_H asked for ideas on its new ELSI initiative. We have a few, looking at biomedical innovation and health from a systems perspective: https://t.co/z5XrniJFZc

[Steve Downs @stephenjdowns]

Such a pleasure and a privilege to with the team on this project!

[Building H @building_h]

Responding to a prompt from @cliffkuang, we worked with a team of students from @uwmhcid, who created a speculative design that answers the question “what if our smartphones were designed for human connection?” https://t.co/N0O1bU77qT

[Building H @building_h]

The most popular story from last week's newsletter was this piece, from @NPR's @FoodieScience on nature's Ozempic: https://t.co/dg96O92FPu