Fluxible's “Speaker Spotlight” series features an interview with a 2016 Fluxible Conference speaker. We asked Pamela Pavliscak some questions about her work, her inspirations, and what she's most looking forward to at Fluxible. Here is what she said:

You are a researcher, data scientist and author. What does a typical day look like for you right now?

As you maybe can guess from that description, it’s all over the map. If it’s a field work day, that’s the whole day. Those are my favorite days, really. I’m so lucky that I can share a little bit of people’s lives, even if only in short bursts. But I don’t know if I could do that every day. After that I usually need a day of silence, not just to reflect on what we’ve learned but just for my own sense of balance. I have three daughters and a menagerie of pets, so it’s silence loosely speaking. Those days are thinking and writing and sometimes taking care of the mundane details of running a business too.

Your work explores data and emotions, what led to your interest in happiness and emotional intelligence?

As a culture, it seems like we are ping-ponging between unrelenting hype about technology’s promise and abject misery at its day-to-day effects. That’s a big disconnect for me. What I wanted to see was more about how we can live meaningful lives with technology. In our work, I think most of us are pragmatic about technology. It does a job. It lets us achieve a goal. It aims to solve a problem. And yet our relationship with technology is emotionally charged. We develop attachments to our favorite apps, we assign personalities to the devices in our lives, we have feelings about our interactions. Fascinating stuff that we aren’t quite sure what to do with, not yet.

You are working on your second book, Designing for Happiness. Can you tell us about the book?

Sometimes I feel like I was little late to discover happiness. Not personally, of course, but the science of happiness. I didn’t get swept up by Gretchen Rubin’s Happiness Project, I only knew Dan Gilbert from Prudential ads, I literally could not concentrate on Martin Seligman’s TED talk because of all the clutter on stage. But once I did start to do my own research, I came around to it. So, the book is really about taking what we know so far about happiness and applying those principles to designing technology. From my perspective, technology should enrich our experience and cultivate sustainable engagement. Happiness is a way in.

What do you find rewarding and challenging about the process of writing your second book?

Life lesson: a little bit adds up every day. Such seemingly simple advice, so hard to put into practice. Super smart, funny people in my life are where I choose to focus attention. Amazing travels take me out of a routine. And, yeah, there are the usual distractions of sweet baby donkeys in hammocks, and compulsive wowing of vacations and babies on Facebook, and even inspired email newsletters. So committing to writing a bit every day is a change I’m aiming toward. That said, I’m still way behind!

What books/movies/music have inspired you?

Right now, I absolutely love Magic and Loss by Virginia Heffernan, which I’ve read greedily cover to cover (metaphorically, since I read on Kindle mostly) twice and dipped in and out of many times since. It’s refreshing to see a thoughtful consideration of the role of technology in our lives that isn’t about the robots coming for our jobs or technology making us lesser humans or recommending that we take a digital detox. Truly magical and beautifully written.

What are you looking forward to most at Fluxible 2016?

For the past couple of years, I’ve been following the fun of Fluxible from afar. People, people, people. That’s what makes it for me. Oh, and music! Relying on the kindness of others to point me to new music is truly a joy for me.

Will attendees find you sampling beer or at the espresso machine?

My beverage-as-mood-regulation regime consists of very strong dark coffee in the morning, spicy chai in the afternoon, and then most evenings I celebrate wine o’ clock.