Designing for focus, presence and wellbeing in a hyperconnected world.
☼ Lisbon/London
Vital Agents
The things that make us human are getting designed out.
For decades, technology has been measured by how much effort it removes. Convenience, speed, efficiency. These have been the benchmarks of good design.
But research is catching up with what many people already feel: that frictionless living has a cost, and that the things we optimised away — movement, concentration, sensory experience, presence — turn out to be the things that sustain us. Vital Agents exists at this intersection.
We study the cultural, behavioural and policy forces reshaping how people want to live. Then we translate that into actionable insight for the teams designing our environments, products, services and systems.
Teams we support.
We partner with teams designing products, services, and environments that support human focus, vitality, and presence.
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Designing healthier relationships with technology and attention
We support:
Ethical and human-centred technology companies
Productivity and focus-first software teams
Education and learning innovators
Digital wellbeing platforms and tools
Consumer electronics teams building intentional devices
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Designing movement, energy, and connection to the physical world
We support:
Outdoor and adventure brands
Wellness, movement, and fitness companies
Mobility and active transport innovators
Urban design, mobility, and architecture firms
Nature-based travel and experience companies
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Designing richer, more tangible human experiences
We support:
Consumer product and electronics teams
Retail and experiential design studios
Creative and cultural organisations
Craft, maker, and creative tool companies
Publishers and physical media brands
A window into emerging lifestyles
Through our 1,200+ strong international network and Canary, our bespoke insight process, Vital Agents stays close to conversations among leading communities and experts exploring and experimenting with ways to cultivate focus, vitality, and presence in a hyperconnected world — providing early insight into cultural shifts as they emerge.
I'm Megan Anderson, founder of Vital Agents. Over the past 10+ years I've worked with teams at Spotify, Google, IDEO, Ford, and others, bringing human insight to the heart of design, research and strategy. I've co-authored and edited two books on Design Research, Explorers and Pioneers.
I was born and raised in Singapore, educated in Australia, and the Netherlands, and professionally shaped by years of research practice in London. Moving between cultures early on gave me a keen eye for how technology, place and environment shape the way people live and feel.
I founded Vital Agents because social science, design research and critical dialogue are quiet superpowers. And right now, we need them more than ever.