We Are Human

What if the customers you secretly wish would just "figure it out" are actually your biggest growth opportunity?

Most course creators and online business owners design products for people like themselves, the self-starting 2% who don't need hand-holding. But that leaves 16% of potential customers underserved, not because they're the wrong fit, but because the experience wasn't designed for them.

In this episode, Andrea and Susan dive into Compassionate Reach, the second framework in their human-centered business approach, and reveal why this might be the most personally challenging (and rewarding) work you'll do.

In this episode, you'll learn:

• Why the bell curve of customer achievement matters for your business growth
• The surprising connection between your own feelings of inadequacy and better product design
• How Andrea used her health journey struggles to innovate for 75-year-old tech-challenged members
• The difference between cheerleading, shaming, and true compassion in customer communication
• Tactical email strategies that use accountability with humor instead of making customers feel bad
• Why post-purchase is still "sales mode" and what that means for retention

Connect with us and watch video episodes at:

wearehumanshow.com

What if the reason your students aren't completing your course has nothing to do with your content, and everything to do with how you're designing the experience?

In this episode, Andrea shares the deeply personal origin story behind Journey Crafting, the framework she developed after leaving her Silicon Valley career and rediscovering her own relationship with emotions.

Susan and Andrea break down why most digital courses feel the same (hint: it's not a coincidence) and reveal the critical first step that can increase student engagement by up to 60%.

In this episode, you'll learn:

• Why course software "affordance" leads creators to design identical, ineffective experiences
• The Identity Step: how to bridge the gap between "I bought this" and "I'm becoming this"
• Why leading with logistics kills momentum, and where it should actually go
• How to deconstruct expert knowledge so your customers can actually absorb it
• The difference between the micro journey (your program) and the macro journey (your world)
  

Andrea explains the UX concept of mental models and why entrepreneurs, like engineers, chunk information in ways that confuse their customers.

She also shares the moment signing a simple manifesto made her feel more pride than earning her PhD, and why that emotional response became the foundation for everything she teaches.

Connect with Us:

• Website: wearehumanshow.com

If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe and leave a review, it helps more humans find us!

Stay human. Stay connected.

We've been trusting machines to help us for 3,000 years, from bronze guardians in ancient Greece to those infuriating phone trees we all know too well. But AI agents are different.
We actually like them. And that might be a problem.

In this episode, Andrea and Susan unpack the AI agent craze sweeping the online business world. With clients asking about AI agents constantly and mentors predicting they're "the next big thing," they dig into why we trust AI so much more than previous automated systems, and whether that trust is warranted when it comes to actually helping people learn and grow.

In this episode, you'll learn:

• The three psychological factors that make AI feel more trustworthy than older tech
• Why "info dumping" into an AI agent won't create real behavioral change
• How to evaluate whether an AI agent can actually deliver on its promises
• The critical difference between removing friction and promoting transformation
• Questions to ask before building or buying an AI agent for your business

Connect with Us:

• https://WeAreHumanShow.com
• https://GeekOutConnect.com
  

If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe and leave a review, it helps more humans find us!

What if the reason your digital course, community, or AI-powered product isn’t “landing” has nothing to do with your content—and everything to do with the human experience you designed (or didn’t)?

In this solo episode of We Are Human, Andrea Peer and Susan Leonardson break down 8 human-centered principles they use to build technology-enabled experiences that still feel personal, supportive, and deeply human, without requiring you to be available 24/7.

You’ll learn:

• Why journey crafting has to start with the human (not the tool)
• How compassionate reach helps you design for more than the 1–2% “high achievers”
• The hidden power of celebration architecture (and why being “seen” drives transformation)
• How to use intentional analytics to spot where people fall off the path—and what to do next
• Why progressive empowerment reduces anxiety and increases follow-through
• The difference between education vs entertainment vs escapism experiences (and why it matters)
• How “doing it wrong” reveals deviation wisdom you can build into your delivery
• Why the best systems rely on continuous human experimentation, not perfection

If you’re building with AI, automation, or online education and you don’t want to lose human connection along the way, this episode is your starting point.

Connect with us / suggest a guest: https://WeAreHumanShow.com

Enjoy the show? Follow/subscribe and leave a review—it helps more humans find the conversation.

Timestamps:

• 00:00 Welcome + why this podcast exists
• 02:45 Principle 1: Journey Crafting
• 10:58 Principle 2: Compassionate Reach
• 18:33 Principle 3: Celebration Architecture
• 22:25 Principle 4: Intentional Analytics
• 28:26 Principle 5: Progressive Empowerment
• 30:24 Principle 6: Context-Aware Experiences
• 31:50 Principle 7: Deviation Wisdom
• 34:56 Principle 8: Continuous Human Experimentation
• 38:44 Closing + how to connect

This one gets personal.

In Episode 3, Susan and Andrea pull back the curtain on who they actually are—their backgrounds, their values, and the unexpected ways they're using AI in their everyday lives.

Hint: it's not about productivity. It's not about automation.

And it's definitely not what you'd expect.

They also get into what they do at GeekOut, the business they run together and why the problem they're trying to solve is harder than it looks.

Want to connect with us?

https://geekoutconnect.com

[email protected]

We know all the tricks. We study human behavior. We build systems designed to connect with people. And yet we are still learning and figuring it out.

In this episode, Susan and Andrea get honest about the gap between knowing how to reach people and actually reaching them.

They talk about why industries are resisting tech they can't avoid, why schools banning AI might be doing students a disservice, and what it really means to not just stay human, but amplify humanness in everything we build.

This isn't a business podcast. This is a "we're a little worried about where society is headed if we don't figure this out" podcast.

No answers yet. Just the questions we think everyone should be asking.

Welcome to the very first episode of We Are Human!

In this intro episode, Susan and Andrea break down the big question driving the show: In a world where we can automate almost everything, what happens to the stuff that makes us... us?

Susan confesses that her creative brain muscle has gotten a little weak from outsourcing too much to AI (relatable), and Andrea drops the bold take that leaning into tech might actually make us more human... if we do it right.

If you've ever caught yourself asking ChatGPT to write an email and then thought, "Wait, should I be worried about this?", you're in the right place.

Stay human. Stay connected.

And maybe exercise that creative muscle a little today.