What will the future of Misü (and mental health tech more broadly) look like? - Dan Seider

Adam Kruger Podcast

In this episode, Dan Seider shares his thoughts on how technology and mental health may intersect in the future. Dan also shares his vision for Misu, an automated mood tracker he’s built.

Follow-up questions we discussed included:

5:15: Do you want people to use Misu to reflect on their mood and decide which they want to use less often? How have you used Misu so far?

7:10: What would you say to someone who’s trying to weigh the privacy concerns of using an automated mood tracker against the benefits of becoming more aware of how apps are influencing us?

10:00: What’s the difference between Facebook and Misu? What led Facebook down its current path and how will you ensure that Misu continues to be good for its users?

12:40: You’ve talked about your vision for Misu being to track fitness and sleep against mood as well. Is your goal to partner with companies/products like Fitbit and Apple Health to do this?

14:45: Do you see pushback from social media platforms against Misu?

18:30: What’s your preference for the future business model of Misu - government funding, freemium consumer model, or both?

19:40: Do you think ad models are inherently an issue (i.e. incentives aren’t aligned with customers), or can subscription models be just as harmful?

23:05: How much of what you’re trying to solve with Misu is (a) eliminate the difficult habit of remembering manually tracking your mood, (b) getting a more accurate picture of what’s actually driving your mood, or (c) hold apps accountable for their impact on our well-being?

26:20: What are some of the biggest challenges you’re currently facing with Misu?

29:10: Are you not able to get camera permissions on phones (in the same way you can on laptops)?

30:25: Do you know why Apple allows background camera usage on Mac yet not on iPhone?

31:45: How long do you think the tech has existed for a product like Misu to come to market?

34:00: Have you seen any apps around word tracking, to help you realize which trains of thought are helpful/unhelpful?

46:00: Do you lean towards the freemium model vs. advertising model?

49:55: How confident are you that you’ll be able to overcome the privacy concerns/trust issues consumers have around using a product like Misu?

51:40: Are we doing enough to address the rising rates of mental health in society?

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