Tanarra Schneider presents 7 trends for 2019 identified by Fjord: Silence is Gold, The Last Straw, Data Minimalism, Ahead of the Curb, The Inclusivity Paradox, Space Odyssey, and Synthetic Realities. She discusses each trend and highlights challenges organizations may face in addressing issues like sustainability, privacy, accessibility, and authenticity as new technologies emerge. Schneider emphasizes that trends are frameworks but not perfect, and the most courageous act is thinking independently.

1. Trends,
Blind Spots
& Privilege
A n E x a m i n a t i o n o f t h e F j o r d Tr e n d s
Tanarra Schneider, Regional Managing Director @ Fjord
SXSW 2019

2. Slide / 2
STRATEGIST
LEADER
MOTHER
SKEPTIC
CHICAGOAN
Hi,
I’m
Tanarra
TRENDS

3. Slide / 3
1000+
Designers
Globally
TRENDS
Dscout
Round Robins
Studio critique
Our work
10+ years of Trends

4. Slide / 4
VALUE &
RELEVANCE
TRENDS

5. Slide / 5
2019
Trends
Trends
7
01 Silence is gold
02The last straw?
03 Data minimalism
04 Ahead of the curb
05The inclusivity paradox
06 Space odyssey
07 Synthetic realities

6. Slide / 6
SILENCE
IS GOLD
Brands must find ways to
connect with consumers who
just want quiet in a noisy world.

7. Slide / 7
Oh, do
shut up
SILENCE IS GOLD
Consumers want to be heard and
understood as whole people, and not
simply as receivers of isolated
services.
It will be critical for organizations to
consider the wider ecosystem of
interaction in which their product
demands attention.
Left: Notifications runamok
Right: The Office: WUPHF

8. Slide / 8
Gimme a
Break
SILENCE IS GOLD
Mindful design is fast rising up the
agenda for big tech firms. Other
organizations must follow their lead but,
to do so, they’ll need to learn new ways
to build relationships and loyalty with
users that now respond badly to the
shouty approach of old.
Top: IRL Glasses
Bottom: LightPhone

9. Slide / 9
SILENCE IS GOLD
Ad free spaces require investment.
Whether I pay, or you pay.
Someone pays.
Because the digital marketplace is
driven by capitalism, not philanthropy.
SILENCE
IS EXPENSIVE

10. Slide / 10
SILENCE IS GOLD
ACCESS
TERMINATED
Voices of the marginalized
Evidence in the fight for justice
Validation of ideology
Community
Access and participation
Top: Philano Castile CrimeScene
Bottom: BBQBecky

11. Slide / 11
THE LAST
STRAW
People expect products and
services to have built in
sustainability, or they’ll reject
those who don’t.

12. Slide / 12
Consider the
source and
the result
THE LAST STRAW
Businesses will move past the concepts of
the sharing economy, to new models of
ownership and value.They will be designing
for a different set of considerations and a
different set of associated costs.
Top: Ellen McArthurFoundation
Bottom: Waste from Clothes Manufacturing

13. Slide / 13
Leave the
world better
than today
THE LAST STRAW
While it may be some time before consumers are
prepared to shift personal habits to a more
sustainable lifestyle – like strictly limiting their
meat consumption – organizations must be ready
for the tornado effect we have now seen around
plastics.
Top: Adidas
Bottom: IKEAUpcycling

14. Slide / 14
THE LAST STRAW
Healthy food deserts are a significant
issue in many places.
Shelf-stable packaging and
preservatives are, unfortunately, a
cornerstone of some food economies.
Currently, sustainability, in a material
way, is out of the reach of a significant
portion of the world.
LIMITED
ACCESSIBILTY &
AFFORDABILITY

15. Slide / 15
THE LAST STRAW
True sustainability requires significant
shifts in our lifestyles.
The population will grow another 30%+
by 2050 – to a projected 9.7 Billion.
We lead very disposable lives.To really
address this, that will have to change
first. And people don’t like change.
TOO MANY PEOPLE
NOT ENOUGH…

16. Slide / 16
DATA
MINIMALISM
People and organizations disagree
on the value of personal data.
Transparency is key to bridging the
gap.

17. Slide / 17
Into the
breach dear
friends
DATA MINIMALISM
Trust and transparency will offer
competitive advantage to those who
maintain them, opening up new
opportunities to attach “trustability” scores
to all sources of data and information.
Top: JunYing, FormerEquifax CIO
Bottom: Blockchain’sbeenhacked

18. Slide / 18
But,
I thought we
were friends
DATA MINIMALISM
People’s understanding of their personal data’s
value is out of sync with organizations’. While
many people assume their individual data set is
desirable in its own right, organizations actually
want it most when it’s part of aggregated data.
Top: KGoal KegelExercisertracks location data
Bottom: Privacy ShoppingGuide from Mozilla

19. Slide / 19
DATA MINIMALISM
People who are the most susceptible
to poor data practices and identity
theft are likely those who are already
deeply disenfranchised or least likely
to recover without financial
hardship.
REQUIRED
READING
Top: Apple’s Terms & Conditions
Bottom: UX of Required fields needto change

20. Slide / 20
AHEAD OF
THE CURB
Cities’ infrastructures are slowing us
down.They must combat the
clutter with ecosystems that meet
real-time needs.

21. Slide / 21
Easy
Rider
AHEAD OF THE CURB
By 2021, we can expect public and individual
transport to merge, and we’ll likely sense an
attitude shift as travelers come to think
simply of getting from A to B, rather than
ruminating over their mode of transport.
Top: Lime Scooters in Austin
Bottom: Ride Sharesare branchingoutto scooters

22. Slide / 22
Curbside
Conveniences
AHEAD OF THE CURB
Those who’ve historically
worked outside the mobility
market are starting to muscle
in, and deliver differentiated
experiences to boot
Top: KrogerAutonomousDelivery
Bottom: Nike Curbside Pickup

23. Slide / 23
AHEAD OF THE CURB
Someone has already died.
We can’t get potholes fixed.
Congress can’t agree on
infrastructure spending.
People still hold parking spaces with
dining room furniture.
EASY,
RIDER

24. Slide / 24
AHEAD OF THE CURB
When we repackage basic good service and
intelligent problem solving as “innovative”
or “new” we are dismissing generations of
people who have already done these
things, and done them well.
And we look arrogant.
THIS SH*T
AIN’T NEW
Top: HorsebackLibrary
Bottom: First SonicDrive-upwasin 1959

25. Slide / 25
INCLUSIVITY
PARADOX
People are individuals, not types.
Organizations must embrace
meaningful mindsets to meet
demand for true inclusivity.

26. Slide / 26
No such
thing as
normal
INCLUSITIVY PARADOX
Organizations will have to re-evaluate
their brand heritage within a context in
which new racial, social, cultural and
sexual norms have become established.
Top: Bad Brainsfront man,HR
Bottom: Theworld is getting less white

27. Slide / 27
You don’t
know me
INCLUSITIVY PARADOX
Demographics, personas, bargain
basement data like gender, age,
ethnicity, don’t give you insights into the
people. It gives you a dossier.
People want to be themselves.
And their relationship with you is
complicated.
Top: Oprah
Bottom: Tanarra,on the left

28. Slide / 28
INCLUSIVITY PARADOX
Inclusivity presumes permission,
desire and access to participate.
That isn’t always the case.
Both of those things apply to those we
can see, those we can and choose to
invite.
And we are terrible hosts.
PRESUMED
PARTICIPATION

29. Slide / 29
INCLUSIVITY PARADOX
The spaces in which the rules are made and
access is granted are reserved for a
precious few.
We are generally beholden to design for
those writing the check, not those who
ultimately pay the cost.
We advocate as far as it is convenient, not
beyond. Because that’s a lot of work.
NEUTERED
ADVOCACY
73%
WHITE

30. Slide / 30
SPACE
ODYSSEY
Work and retail spaces need a
digital makeover. It’s time to
rethink our approaches and tools
for design spaces.

31. Slide / 31
Bricks &
Clicks
SPACE ODYSSEY
Organizations will open up to ecosystems –
designing digital channels, stores, supply
chain or communities as part of an
integrated whole.
Top: Nike
Bottom: Amazon

32. Slide / 32
SPACE ODYSSEY
In our race to reinvent our
cubicles, we are leaving some
of our most important spaces in
the proverbial, or very real
dust.
FORGOTTEN
SPACES

33. Slide / 33
SPACE ODYSSEY
Third spaces, and the people who host
them are vital to communities. It’s
critical that we don’t over index on our
desire to paint retail transformation in
broad brush strokes, or we risk
floating into the ether.
COMMUNITY
ANCHORS

34. Slide / 34
SYNTHETIC
REALITIES
With face-swapping and voice
simulation creating more believable
synthetic realities, companies must
work out how to capitalize on it – and
manage risk.

35. Slide / 35
You’ve been
Punk’d.
SYNTHEIC REALITIES
We should be asking questions: “What do
synthetic realities mean for authenticity
and truth?” as well as “As this is
normalized, what are the opportunities
and consequences for me?”

36. Slide / 36
Better & safer
than real.
SYNTHEIC REALITIES
They present amazing opportunities to
learn, in safe to fail environments.
But are they immersive enough?
Will skills transfer?

37. Slide / 37
SYNTHETIC REALITIES
We’ve been in the synthetic realities
game for over a decade now.
It’s rigged. It’s all rigged.
The only way out is through.
FAKE IT TIL
YOU MAKE IT

38. Slide / 38
TRENDS
Trends are a framework.
They help us make sense
of emergent behaviors.
“All models
are wrong, but
some are
useful.”
- George Box

39. Slide / 39
“The most
courageous act is
still to think for
yourself.Aloud.”
- Coco Chanel

40. Trends,
Blind Spots
& Privilege
A n E x a m i n a t i o n o f t h e F j o r d Tr e n d s
Tanarra Schneider, Regional Managing Director @ Fjord
SXSW 2019