Designed for Humans: Rethinking work in the age of AI - Softcover

Smith, Theo

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1036954854 ISBN 13: 9781036954857

Publisher: Designed for Humans Press, 2026

Synopsis

What if most of your people problems are actually design problems?

Most workplaces don't set out to exclude anyone. They set out to be efficient. But over time, those efficiency-driven systems quietly filter out capable people — in hiring, onboarding, day-to-day management, and how progression gets decided. The explanation is almost always the same: "They're not a fit." "They need to adapt." The system, somehow, is never the problem.

Designed for Humans is a practical guide to human-centred management — a rethink of modern work through a simple but powerful lens. The friction in your organisation isn't random. It's predictable, repeatable, and built into the way you've designed things. And in an age where AI and automation are accelerating the consequences of bad workplace design, getting this right has never mattered more.

Written for leaders, managers, and HR and people teams who want high standards and a workplace where people can actually thrive — including those who think, communicate, and work differently — this book covers:

Hiring and interviews — why your process often rewards confidence and performance over real ability, and what to do instead
Onboarding — the quiet point of failure that creates management problems months down the line
Neurodiversity and difference — how to manage people who work differently, without patronising them or waiting for them to "prove" they're struggling
Communication and hidden rules — making the unwritten expectations visible, so people don't have to guess what good looks like
Progression and potential — designing systems that don't quietly reward sameness
AI and automation — how to use it to remove invisible labour and widen participation, not just scale old assumptions

Each chapter ends with a Designed for Human Action section — not a rigid checklist, but prompts that help you notice where your systems are asking people to bend, mask, or compensate.

This isn't a book about fixing people. It's a book about fixing the design of work — so the right people stop slipping through the gaps.

If you want a workplace built for humans, not just for efficiency, start here.

About this title

About the Author

Theo Smith is an award-winning author, keynote speaker, and founder of Neurodiversity at Work. A recognised voice on inclusive design and the future of work, he advises organisations on redesigning hiring and people systems to better reflect how humans actually work. A LinkedIn Top Voice and host of the Neurodiversity with Theo Smith podcast, Theo combines lived experience with senior leadership insight to challenge outdated assumptions about performance, potential, and progress.

Edition details

• Publisher: Designed for Humans Press
• Publication date: 2026
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1036954854
• ISBN 13: 9781036954857
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 272