The Shape of Future Things
Things are going to change, real fast. How do you keep design relevant when the canvas and the nature of human mind is changing so fast?
I have been reading Physics of the Future, by Dr. Michio Kaku. It’s quite an intriguing read. Both inducing curiosity and eerily alien in places. It’s a sketch of what the future might be like, inevitably. Now, things might take a slightly different direction, but things are changing at a pace that humankind is mutating to understand what the changes are. Few of us will get it, will adopt, and few will get rusty, blink, wither. And it will occur too fast, too soon. Things will make indelible changes to the human condition and the meaning of life itself.
Kaku begins with Moore’s law, and compares the very chip that sings “Happy Birthday” in your birthday card with the Allied forces in 1945, stating that the chip contains much more power, and that “Hitler, Churchill, or Roosevelt might have killed to get that chip.” He predicts that as computer power increases — computers, like electricity, paper, and water, will “disappear into the fabric of our lives, and computer chips will be planted in the walls of buildings.”
I’ve been thinking about what it means for design. Maybe not so far out like Dr. Kaku’s thoughts, but maybe what things might start meaning in the next few years and the essence of design itself.
Systems thinking
At the intersection of humans, identity, micro-interactions and interface design is where the melding and formation of the future things resides. The future will need deep design thinkers and versatile people who can switch contexts with the evolving pace of the ecosystem. As systems come out of their silos and mingle with peripheral zones, including robotics, InternetOfThings, additive manufacturing, and as complexities continue to evolve, architectural thinking will be the need.
Need for Uniform Design, like computing will be ubiquitous. Divergence, like Darwinian vision of humankind, is inevitable. There’ll be a fight for proprietary dominance for interfaces and systems, and systems will be hugely divergent. Soon a meta-interface, meta-language and meta-system will be needed to sit on top of these proprietary interfaces and bring all your interfaces in a form that the end-human might like. Think of the language (think of a metaphorical Universal Remote) for everything that your interface with. Think deep. Think wide.
Attention is the new commodity
If attention is the new commodity, sensory input is the new currency. Primarily, Visual, with auditory micro-cues, and very little text. Almost all interface scavenging is already visual. The notification is already the interface. The new world of glancification is more about visuals than anything else. Until ambience and mood transformation becomes the norm with neuro signals and scent, this will remain status quo. Distraction is okay for today’s human, and the human race of the future is shuffling, waiting to douse the next notification fire before it lights up. And so many neurons are firing in that brain, that you take them away and there are going to be withdrawal symptoms. App makers are the new dealers. Apps are the new drugs. It’s going to be that for a while. Know this as a designer. Act responsibly.
Changing with the times
Objects are changing every moment, and so are the ways people interact with them and respond to the collective stimuli. Humankind is evolving and learning everyday. Designers will need to be sensitive to this transience and adopt fast. In the grander scheme of things, the opportunity to influence human behaviour, changing and creating the dialogue with objects both real and digital for multitudes is such a high that wireframes, and the tools you use are just a means to an end.
The Future — It might be a bright sunny world, or a cold stark one out there. You (yes I’m talking to you!) can make all the difference. That’s the power of design. That’s the power you have as a designer. Put it to good use.
__________
⚫ Catch up? You should follow me on Twitter.
I’d love to hear about design and the shape of future things. If you have ideas, would love to catch up and discuss.
Originally published at www.linkedin.com on April 19, 2015.
