The Future

Yesterday I did something different, instead of trying to figure out what my future would hold, I decided to attend a conference about how to design for the future. My morning started off in typical Amy fashion, lost in yet another city I am not familiar with. I arrived at the conference during the first break, said hello to the only person I knew and took a seat.

The first presenter I saw, Ari Baum, spoke mainly about the numerous different types of apps on the market. Coming from a print background, it was interesting to hear about the differences, as well as ways that you can get around coding.

After lunch I saw Jean-Pierre Lacroix, he talked a lot about the need statements of companies and how to accomplish them. One of the most important things was figuring out how to market to the heart of consumers to better connect consumers to brands. Even better than coming up with a big idea is coming up with a big idea that integrates a social cause.

Next up was Ryan Wolman of henderson bas kahn, who brought up the shift from one to two way communication between brands and consumers. In the past companies did not want to hear from their customers, the only reason customers called was to complain. The difference now is that companies incorporate customers into what they are doing and even sometimes have customers promote their products for them. Companies now have to be more truthful, they can't just say something is good for consumers unless it is, this paired with two way communication has caused an increase in brand transparency and positive social involvement.

The final presenter of the day was Patrick Robinson who spoke about a lot of things I had never heard of including augmented reality and numerous interactive apps. There were a number of interesting points he made, but I'll summarize them into a list: everyone we interact with is moving at different paces, "the future is here, it is just unevenly distributed", half of what half of us will be working on in five years doesn't exist yet, when looking at costs there is more than just cost to the client and cost to the company.

At the end of the day I felt inspired and curious. I wanted to go home and spend hours on my computer researching all of the things I heard about. I haven't gotten very far yet, but in the days ahead I'm sure I will be digging into a ton of great articles.