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# Modern times
- URL: https://www.cesarrg.com/modern-times/
- Published: 2025-03-17T11:30:07.000Z
- Updated: 2025-03-17T11:34:13.000Z
- Author: César Rodríguez
- Tags: Technology

#213 - Mar.2025

One of the examples that I often use in my talks about innovation and design is inspired on Chaplin's 1936 [***Modern Times***.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modern%5FTimes%5F%28film%29?ref=cesarrg.com)

There is one particular scene that resembles very well what bad design means.

Chaplin is a worker at a factory, where they started testing a new machine *"designed"* to feed workers, all for optimizing time. The machine was **technically** advanced but completely ignored the user. It nearly killed Chaplin by forcing food into his mouth!

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/10/f4/10f4a52f-1b7d-4284-b66d-0fccfd9dc5da/content/images/2025/03/moderntimes-1-1.jpeg)

From a design perspective, this scene always stuck with me.

The scene is funny, but behind it has a very insightful lesson - in fact, the entire film is a masterpiece of social critique.

This is what, often, happens in many companies shipping products & services where technology is disconnected from human needs. 

This is what happens when we over-index on *performance* and ignore **human behavior**. 

It is never just about the technology. It's about how we use it to deliver [memorable](https://www.cesarrg.com/memorable/) experiences.

¡Saludos!

![César Rodríguez](https://storage.ghost.io/c/10/f4/10f4a52f-1b7d-4284-b66d-0fccfd9dc5da/content/images/2024/09/image-2.png) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/10/f4/10f4a52f-1b7d-4284-b66d-0fccfd9dc5da/content/images/2024/02/CR_sign_2024-3.png) 

**César Rodríguez**  
[LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/crodriguezguevara/?ref=cesarrg.com) / [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/cesarrg.blog/?ref=cesarrg.com) / [X](https://x.com/cesarrgv?ref=cesarrg.com) 

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