Choices in customisation

For years mass customisation has been the holy grail of product development, providing products or services that people actually want, rather than creating backstock. Dell started selling build-to-order PCs in the 1990s, and while brands like Nike iD soon followed suit, the coming era…

New retail moments

Elsewhere we have explored some of the wider social impacts of advances in transport technology. Here we are going to consider how new mobility patterns will influence impulsive purchasing behaviour, and the impact this will have on consumer packaged goods.

What’s the deal with digital detox?

Why we are talking about digital detoxing and why it’s not the answer to the problem.

There’s a certain irony to talking about digital detox. Our Twitter and Facebook feeds or old fashioned RSS, are regularly filled with new studies…

Anywhere in search of somewhere

In times of rapid or sudden change we are often compelled to assess the way in which we look at ourselves. The surprise of the Brexit vote in the United Kingdom and the election of Trump in the USA, not to mention the meteoric rise of Macron and Marine Le Pen in France has…

Talking technology

Voice technology produced its first mainstream sales success with the home assistant Amazon Echo. This device was released in November 2014. Since then Morgan Stanley, the financial services firm, estimates had cumulative sales of over 11 million worldwide by December 2016.

More to VR than meets the eye

Although there have been many false starts over the years, the virtual reality (VR) industry is finally expected to hit the mainstream. In the wake of popular product launches from Oculus Rift, Sony’s PSVR and the HTC Vive, the 2016 VR Industry report predicted there will be…

Choices on the road

When Model-Ts started rolling off the Ford’s Highland Park production lines in 1908, there were only around 200,000 cars on the roads in the USA. Few foresaw the spread of suburbia, out-of-town shopping, drive-thru restaurants, working at the car wash and road trips down Route 66. Nor did…