How Power and Design Shape the Technology We Use With Dr. Christine Miller | Show notes episode 144 – Women Disrupting Tech

Most founders believe that technology is neutral. It’s a tool that does not know the difference between right and wrong.

But what if the culture, the beliefs of the creators, and their intentions shape their impact?

In episode 144, Dr. Christine Miller argues that many modern technological tools, including AI, are not primarily designed to perform a function. They are designed for a transaction. And, your data, your prompts, and your ideas become part of the exchange.

Our conversation explores:

How power and design shape the tools we work with,
How brands have become the modern versions of totems,
How this combination creates systems that are difficult to change or leave.

This episode zooms out from the usual product and startup discussions to look at technology as a societal system. The goal is not to say the tech industry has been doing things wrong. The goal is to invite listeners to rethink how we see and use technology.

Listen to the episode on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or YouTube. Or scroll down to learn how technology shapes society as much as society shapes technology.

3 Lessons From This Conversation

Christine Miller is the co-author of the book Tools, Totems and Totalities. In this episode, we use her framework to explore how culture, design, and power structures shape the technology that influences our future. Her framework describes three layers that explain how technologies evolve from simple products into systems that shape behavior: tools, totems, and totalities.

1. Tools: The product

The first layer is the tool itself. Traditionally, tools were designed to perform a clear function. Many modern digital “tools” work differently. Instead of being designed purely for functionality, many are built around a transaction. When you use an AI system or a platform, you are not just using a tool. You are participating in an exchange where your prompts, data, and ideas become part of the system that powers the technology.

2. Totems: The identity around the tool

The second layer is what Christine calls the totem. Totems are the brands, symbols, and identities that form around technologies. Platforms and devices are rarely just products. They often represent belonging, status, or a worldview. In that sense, technology brands function much like totems in traditional cultures. They signal who we are and what we believe in.

3. Totalities: The system that shapes behavior

The final layer is the totality. This is the system that emerges when tools and totems combine. At this stage, technology is no longer just something we use. It becomes part of a structure that shapes how people behave and the roles they are expected to play within a system. For founders, this is particularly relevant because, in many ways, entrepreneurship is about challenging totalities and creating alternatives.

Together, tools, totems, and totalities explain how technologies move from useful products to systems that influence how we live and work.

💬 Know a founder who is trying to change a broken system? Share this episode with them.

Or scroll down for magical moments, practical takeaways, and my own observations on the conversation that bring these lessons to life.

Highlights and timestamps

Time	Highlight
00:00	Introduction
05:34	Exploring Hegemony in Technology
08:28	The Nature of Technology and Trust
11:18	The Concept of Neutrality in Technology
14:17	Understanding Tools, Totems, and Totalities
17:03	The Impact of Totalities on Technology
19:53	Women Founders and Systemic Challenges
22:59	Alternatives in Technology: Blue Sky
25:54	Profitability and Societal Progress
34:38	Measuring Societal Benefit and Design Value
37:52	Identity-Shaping Technology and Brand Influence
41:12	Addiction to Technology and Design Principles
44:59	Conviviality and Sustainable Technology
48:48	The Challenge of Perspective in Corporate Culture
52:07	Building Support Networks for Founders
55:45	Designing for Creativity and Imagination

3 Magic Moments In The Episode

Frameworks help us understand systems. But it is often the stories and examples that make those systems visible. During the conversation with Christine Miller, several moments stand out because they show how the ideas of tools, totems, and totalities play out in the real world.

1. Why changing systems requires allies

At one point in the conversation, we talk about how women can change systems that were historically not designed with them in mind. Christine shares the example of Jane Austen. Austen was an extraordinary writer, but breaking into the literary world of her time likely required support from men who already had access to the system.

The parallel with the tech ecosystem is hard to miss. Systems rarely change from the outside alone. Allies inside the system often play an important role in opening doors and creating space for change.

2. Bluesky versus X: how designs impact users

Another moment that made the framework tangible is the comparison between Bluesky and X. Both platforms experiment with technology, but the intent behind those experiments is different. Where X experiments are often aimed at optimizing outcomes for the platform itself, Bluesky allows people to experiment with how the network works.

This example shows how design decisions shape power. The architecture of a platform can either reinforce existing systems or create space for new ones.

3. From excitement to disillusionment

Christine also describes something many of us will recognize from using AI. At first, there is excitement and curiosity. A new tool feels powerful and full of possibilities. But the more you use it, the more you start to question how it works and whose interests it ultimately serves.

These moments illustrate why conversations about technology should not only focus on products, but also on the systems those products create.

💬 What was your favorite moment from the episode? Let me know in the comments.

Or keep scrolling for practical takeaways if you want to build a solution that positively impacts the world we live in.

Practical Takeaways for Founders

The ideas in this conversation may sound philosophical, but they have very practical implications for founders. If technology evolves from tools to systems, then the choices founders make about design, incentives, and user relationships matter more than they might realize.

1. Build tools people can work with, not systems they depend on

Many modern platforms are designed to keep users inside the system. Retention and recurring engagement are often seen as signs of success. But Christine’s framework invites founders to think differently. A good tool should give people agency over the outcome and empower them to do their work better, not make them dependent.

2. Encourage critical thinking about your product

AI tools in particular create the illusion of authority. When a system produces an answer quickly and confidently, it is easy for users to assume that the output is correct. Founders should design products that encourage people to think critically about what the tool produces. Technology should support human judgment, not replace it.

3. Changing systems starts with small interventions

Many founders set out to build the next big solution. But Christine suggests that systems rarely change through a single breakthrough. More often, change happens through a series of small interventions that gradually reshape how people interact with technology. Instead of trying to replace an entire system, founders can start by creating tools that give people tools more control inside it.

Building technology is never just about shipping a product. It is about shaping the systems people will live and work with.

💬 Know a founder who is building the next generation of technology? Share this episode with them.

Or scroll down to discover an inspiring quote and learn about my own takeaways.

The Quote From The Episode

Picture of Dr. Christine Miller with her quote from the episode 144 of the podcast Women Disrupting Tech. Her quote: “What we’re calling tools are really designed for some sort of transaction rather than for function.” The episode is titled 'How Power and Design Shape the Technology We Use With Dr. Christine Miller'

“What we’re calling tools are really designed for some sort of transaction rather than for function.”

Dr. Christine Miller – Professor of Design Management at the Savannah College of Art and Design in Savannah, Georgia

This observation captures one of the central ideas of the conversation. Many technologies we describe as “tools” no longer simply help us perform a task. Instead, they create transactions where our data, behavior, and ideas become part of the system itself. The question she raises is simple but powerful: if our tools are built around transactions rather than functions, who ultimately benefits from the exchange?

3 Things That Changed The Way I Think

This conversation changed how I think about the systems around technology. It made me acutely aware that everything we build is shaped through our lens. And that means that, even more than before, having people from different backgrounds look at what I’m building is important when I want to create something that serves humanity, not just a few. Here’s what else I reflected on.

1. You do not need to be a technical expert to understand technology

Christine approaches technology from an anthropological perspective. She even describes herself as an “OK user of technology.” That distance from the technical details creates a different kind of insight. Instead of focusing on how technology works, she looks at how people interact with it and how it shapes society.

2. VCs might be more risk-averse than we’d like to think

Another moment made me rethink how we talk about risk. During a discussion about investing in long-term problems like women’s health, I argued that venture capital is comfortable with risk if the upside is large enough. Christine suggested the real issue may not be risk itself, but measurement. Systems prefer investments that are easy to quantify and justify. That made me realize that many systemic problems remain unsolved. Not because they are too risky, but because they are harder to measure.

3. The tension between tools and systems

One idea stayed with me as I think about building technology myself. Investors often reward products that keep users inside the system. But her framework raises a difficult question: what if the best tools are the ones that help people move forward without becoming dependent on them?

Conversations like this remind me that technology is never just about features. It is also about the systems we create and the roles people are expected to play within them.

💬 What changed your thinking as you listened to this episode? I would love to hear from you in the comments.

Coming up on Women Disrupting Tech

Most startups try to hire faster as they grow. Polarsteps makes a different choice.

In the next episode, I sit down with Relinde Boerman, Lead Recruiter at Polarsteps, to unpack what it really takes to scale a team without losing what made the company work in the first place. We talk about hiring for values without limiting diversity, why talent density matters more than individual brilliance, and how Polarsteps treats hiring as a long-term decision rather than a race to fill roles.

In the clip below, Relinde explains why time-to-hire is not a metric they optimize for, even though the pressure to move fast is always there. It’s a short moment, but it captures the mindset behind how Polarsteps approaches hiring and what they choose to prioritize instead.

Click play to hear why ‘time-to-hire’ is not a KPI that Relinde looks at regularly.

If you’re building a team and want to protect your culture while you grow, this is one to listen to. If you’re subscribed, you’ll find it in your inbox on 26 March at 8 am CET.

Until then, as always, keep being awesome.

Dirkjan

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Listen to Episode 144 on Spotify, Apple, or YouTube

Listen on Apple Podcasts

Listen to our conversation on YouTube

About Dr. Christine Miller

Dr. Christine Miller is Professor of Design Management at the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) in Savannah, Georgia. She is a design educator, researcher, and practitioner working at the intersection of anthropology, design, and business.

Her research focuses on socio-technical systems and the ways social and cultural dynamics shape the design, adoption, and use of technology. Through an interdisciplinary approach that combines anthropology, management studies, and design, she studies how organizations and teams develop new products, processes, and technologies, and how knowledge flows within collaborative innovation networks.

Before joining SCAD, Christine taught at the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago. Her work continues to explore how technology design interacts with culture, ethics, and organizational systems.

You can connect with Christine via email or on LinkedIn.

About Tools, Totems, and Totalities

Tools, Totems, and Totalities: The Modern Construction of Hegemonic Technology (Springer, 2025) by Allen W. Batteau and Christine Z. Miller explores why technological innovations often fail to live up to the expectations placed on them. Drawing on anthropology, design, and engineering perspectives, the book examines how cultural values, social structures, and historical developments shape the way societies imagine and use technology.

The authors introduce a framework that looks at technology through three lenses: tools, the practical functions technologies perform; totems, the identities and meanings people attach to them; and totalities, the large-scale systems that coordinate and influence society. Through historical examples and contemporary cases, the book shows how technological systems are deeply connected to culture, power, and institutional dynamics.

By combining sociotechnical analysis with cultural insight, Tools, Totems, and Totalities offers a critical perspective on why societies place such high hopes on technological solutions and why those solutions often fall short.

You can buy the book on Amazon and anywhere else where books are sold.

Amplify The Voices of Women Disrupting Tech and Close The Funding Gap

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Events that Women Disrupting Tech Must-Attend

Some great events take place this spring. Below are three that you definitely want to check out. For a full overview of all events, including links to buy tickets, please check the events page.

Featured Event: Understanding Women’s Health – 24 June 2026

Learn how hormone cycles or perimenopause impact your life, and discover more about conditions like PCOS or Endometriosis at the quarterly Understanding Women’s Health Events hosted by Kasia Pokrop.

Women’s health is a topic near and dear to my heart. Which is why I’m happy to support and attend the events that 3mbrace Health organizes at Equals every quarter.

Men are expressly invited to join. In fact, send me an email if you want to be a women’s health pioneer. More info and tickets can be found here.

Diverse Leaders in Tech Events

If you like being in the know about what is happening in the DEI space, Diverse Leaders in Tech is the place to be.

Every last Thursday of the month, they have monthly in-person meetups for tech people, HR leaders and supporters of diversity to exchange insights, tackle challenges, and take action. It’s a vibrant, safe space where diversity is celebrated.

You can find their events on the website. Joining your first event is free, and the next one is on 25 March.

What I Want To Leave You With

One of the things I appreciated about this conversation with Christine Miller is that it zooms out from the usual startup and product discussions. We often talk about technology as if it were neutral. A tool that simply does what we ask it to do. But as Christine explains through the framework of tools, totems, and totalities, technology is never just a product. It is also shaped by the culture, incentives, and power structures of the people who design it.

That realization changes how I look at founders. When you build technology, you are not just shipping features. You are shaping the systems people will live and work with. That responsibility is easy to overlook in the rush to launch products and grow companies, but conversations like this remind me why it matters.

You can listen to the full conversation with Christine Miller on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or YouTube.

A Question for You 🤔

💬 Did this episode change the way you design or use technologies like AI?

👇 Share your thoughts in the comments. Let’s keep this conversation going and discover new truths.

How Power and Design Shape the Technology We Use With Dr. Christine Miller | Show notes episode 144