Facts about design, people & technology: the keynote I made for the Mid Talent conference at the BCD, on research topics in current design.

1. # trends: technology, design, life #
Carlos Cuadrado
Branding & Digital art director, Perspectiva
midtalent 2019, BCD

2. Two decades of rapid technology growth and
innovation has generated enormous physical
(environmental and individual) and digital clutter (fake
news, privacy and data selling scandals…).
Value creation will not come from simply growing
bigger, but by being better. In busy lives and on a
crowded planet, only the relevant will remain.

3. We are not judging, just showing.

4. Artificial Intelligence, Pareto
and Inclusiveness
As users we expect organizations to see and engage
with us as individuals.
But there is a risk that by trying to be more inclusive,
organizations inadvertently exclude others. And by
trying to speak to the individual, organizations risk
saying something not quite right.
An important challenge is to find ways to be inclusive
on a massive scale, not only for underrepresented
groups who speak, but for others who have not yet
raised their voices.
It is one thing to listen to diverse voices and another to
design products and services that include them.

5. # = digital speaker Facebook and motherhood, the Gillian Brockell case
Digital technologies have given
many underrepresented voices,
previously ignored by mainstream
media, the tools to unite and be
heard through popular activity,
opening the door to organizations
wishing to connect with them.
But while we can now quantify
the voices of those who have
decided to unite in the streets of
the city, in red carpets and
around hashtags, how can we
quantify those who are still hiding
outside the Big Data?
Big Data = False
Still too many organizations
develop and design their products
and services based on quantitative
perceptions and Big Data.
Big Data isolates variables to
identify patterns.
And although the numbers don't
lie, they don't always tell the whole
story because they are blind to
human behavior in its context.
theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/dec/15/week-in-patriarchy-facebook-parenting-
advertising
"Please, Tech Companies, if you’re smart enough to realize that I’m
pregnant, that I’ve given birth, then surely you’re smart enough to realize
that my baby died, and can advertise to me accordingly, or maybe, just
maybe, not at all.”
twitter.com/gbrockell/status/1072589687489998848
Subsequently he began to receive ads about adoption.

6. Gillette
Hotels.com
gillette.com/en-us/the-best-men-can-be
Gillette's latest ad shows Samson, a Toronto transgender artist,
shaving for the first time under the guidance of his father.
The best way to find it on You Tube is on the Tea Party channel.
"The Best Men Can Be" campaign launched in
January 2019.
Leverages the brand's best line to address negative
behavior among men, including harassment, sexism,
sexual misconduct, and toxic masculinity.
youtube.com/watch?v=koPmuEyP3a0 youtube.com/watch?v=jx2LTIMPT-s

7. Gillette
Hotels.com
Persado is an IA-optimized marketing language provider.
By means of predictive language it shapes all the contact points of a user with a company/
service.
In the case of hotels.com Persado has helped to shape all the messages of the brand,
especially in the mails sent to their customers.
persado.com/

8. 01
New tools
The use of new frameworks,
c o m b i n i n g B i g D a t a
(quantitative), Thick Data
(qualitative and contextual data)
a n d W i d e D a t a ( t re n d s ,
contextual perspectives and
industry perspectives).
02
New segments
Moving away from traditional demographic
approaches to marketing.
The traditional labels of age, geographical location,
social income... no longer serve to define users.
Instead, we should look at the mentalities that group
people based on their motivations, attitudes, and
behaviors.
03
Be water
People demand personalized services that adapt to
their needs in real time.
To be able to deliver them, a rewire is needed by
putting human beings at the center.

9. The dopamine hit:
uncluttered
We’re seeing a dramatic escalation in the rate at which
people disconnect, unsubscribe and opt out to stem
the barrage of content and messages that clutter daily
life.
As consumers, we’ve come to realize that it’s no
longer simply a lifestyle choice, but a serious mental
health issue.

10. A study published by Stanford
and NYU researchers has
concluded that logging out leads
to greater subjective well-being,
less loss in attention span, and
more time spent with friends and
family.
theguardian.com/technology/2019/feb/01/
facebook-mental-health-study-happiness-
delete-account
The Welfare Effects of
Social Media
Center for Humane
Technology
Founded by Tristan Harris (former project manager at Google) and a
group of Silicon Valley technologists from large technology companies,
they describe the situation as follows:
humanetech.com/problem/
A study conducted by the
University of Ottawa found that
spending more than two hours a
day on recreational screen
(games...) were associated with
poorer working memory, worse
processing speed, lower attention
levels, as well as how a
deterioration of language skills
and executive function.
Lancet Child and
Adolescent Health
thelancet.com/journals/lanchi/onlinefirst

11. The smart telephone occupies
more and more space in our lives
hijacking our minds and society.
Digital Addiction Mental health
There is a constant battle to
c a p t u r e o u r a t t e n t i o n w e
increasingly engage in practices
such as social comparison, bullying
and FOMO.
Rupture of the truth
It's harder than ever to separate
facts from truth.
La société du spectacle.
Superficiality
A social system based on likes in
s h a r e s g i v e s p r i o r i t y t o
superficiality over depth.

12. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tf9ZhU7zF8s

13. As we put more barriers between ourselves and
digital technologies, organizations must learn to offer
value to users who yearn for silence in a noisy world.
Beyond the user experience, companies are designing
devices that offer more control over digital exposure.
There's a renaissance of simpler technology that
captures less of our attention.

14. punkt.ch/en/
Punkt
Light
Moment
Calling
SMS
Notes
Calculator
Clock
Alarm
Calendar
Black-and-white interface (occasional red alerts)
based on text.
Stand by: 12.5 days, charge time: 2.5h, calling time:
4.2 h.
Like punk but with a t.

15. Punkt
Light
Moment
thelightphone.com/
Calling & SMS
Ride sharing
Moice memo
Directions (like maps but text)
Alarm
Calculator
Music Player
Black-and-white text-based interface.
Stand by: 1 to 3 days, call time: 49 - 50 minutes.
Size similar to a credit card.
Oled screen with e-ink

16. Punkt
Light
Moment
inthemoment.io/
Moment app. and Moment Coach,
an application designed to stop
using applications.

17. 01
Be quieter
Non-response as an insinuation to be quieter, not
noisier.
Rethink metrics and find new ways to measure the
performance of services that are not purely
addiction-related.
02
Invest in content design
When the number of interactions you have with
consumers is minimal, each one counts. You have to
change the tone of the messages frequently until you
find the right one.
It's not just what you say, it's how you say it.

18. WeApp
Screens taught us how to work and shop in a flexible
world, adapted to our needs.
Now it is the turn of the physical world, in which it will
be necessary to find solutions that interconnect the
digital experiences with the physical ones.
This will require a fundamental rethink of space design
approaches and tools to meet users' expectations for
greater flexibility and customization.

19. After believing in the digital
utopia that led us to think that
everything in our life would
happen from the comfort of our
homes in front of a screen, we
have returned to physical space.
From screen to coworking À la carte
The previous model, based on the
screen and its flexibility, has shown
us a selectable à la carte, social
and community world, in which the
distinctions between play and work
fade away.
The best of both worlds
Today there is an increasingly integrated approach to both worlds, led
primarily by retail, but migrating to the spheres of work and public space.
Convenience powered by seamless connectivity depends on data, and
there’s been a further shift amongst retailers to gather, use and act on
customer data both more effectively and creatively.

20. Hema market
Nike flagship
WeLive
MINI
Hema app linked to account in Alipay or Taobao.
The supermarket also functions as a logistics distribution centre.
The 30-minute service, aimed at people living within a radius of 3
kilometres, aims to solve deliveries of needed products such as medicines
or batteries.
youtube.com/watch?v=XNt18b5hOVE
Physical: usual interaction, users can pay at a self-service checkout
through the supermarket application, linked to Alipay.
Online: place your order and within 30 minutes receive the purchase at
home.
Combined offline-online: customers visit the physical supermarket,
choose the products they want, scan each one's code and complete the
purchase via the mobile application so that a deliveryman can take it
home.

21. Hema market
Nike flagship
WeLive
On the first floor are the community's favorite shoes and outfits, and is
updated as customers' tastes evolve.
Nike Speed Shop, an entire floor that uses online data to stock its shelves,
and replenish them based on what the community wants. Insights
collected by the online data.
Store walls can be rearranged to accommodate new spaces and
configurations; as selection evolves, the store design can also evolve,
making it a responsive store.
Since the Nike application can be paid anywhere in the store, there are
mailboxes where you can pick up previously placed orders online or scan
the barcode of a mannequin to buy the complete outfit.

22. Hema market
Nike flagship
WeLive
Small dwellings, housed in buildings in which shared spaces such as
laundries, gyms, bars, dining rooms and a huge kitchen.
All inclusive.
The model is similar to student residences, but for people taking their first
steps into the professional market.
Oriented to be a transitional housing and networking.
Other WeWork projects include Rise by We, WeLive and WeGrow.
welive.com/

23. 01
Let online behaviors inform
offline
People´s digital behavior can give
powerful insights to what people
want and value.
Using this behavior properly is
synonymous with triumph, just
like Amazon did with the four-
star physical store that only
stocks products that have been
given four stars or more in their
online reviews.
02
Link space and business
strategy
Define a business strategy and
design the physical space around
it.
03
Create a connected
ecosystem
Look at the ecosystem of services
and experiences offered in the
space, and link those to the
customers’ mindsets.
This is what should drive all design
decisions.

24. Just around the corner
Our cities have evolved.
Around the world, the differences between public and
private transport, passenger transit and item delivery
are increasingly blurred.
Insufficient regulation and lack of centralized planning
have led to disorder in the urban mobile service and a
fragmented user experience.

25. Rural exodus upgraded Is there room for everyone?
As population displacement to
urban areas continues, new
needs and behaviours emerge.
Ex: the use of delivery services is
changing the displacement needs
of some people.
Different modes of transport have begun to overlap or
become multi-purpose, creating a playing field for
anyone interested in meeting the growing demand for
new models and services.
But the large number of actors and the lack of
centralized mobility systems have led different
providers to hack/patch the old models.
And with the arrival of too many new actors, chaos
has arrived.
For example, the streets of Paris have become so
crowded and dangerous due to hundreds of electric
scooters from operators like Lime, Bird... etc that the
government banned scooters in October.
elperiodico.com/es/sociedad/20181027/francia-prohibira-patinetes-
electricos-aceras-7112014
Conmute
The average San Francisco
resident spends 230 commute
hours, so half a million hours lost
each day. The American Journal of
Preventive Medicine has published
a study revealing that those who
commute more than 10 miles are
more likely to have high blood
pressure.
“I get everything delivered as I don’t wanna
drive to the store, which is 20 miles away.”
John, 49, UK

26. UPS
Gacha by Muji
Siemens
MOIA
Flying cars
Collaborative project between UPS and Arrival (UK
technology company).
Team made up of experts in engineering, software,
artificial intelligence and robotics.
Everything is designed from 0: engine, battery,
software and interface.
pressroom.ups.com/pressroom/
ContentDetailsViewer.page?
ConceptType=PressReleases&id=15590573
22173-933
arrival.com/

27. UPS
Gacha by Muji
Siemens
MOIA
Flying cars
It can operate on a fixed, predetermined route, "like an invisible railroad,"
or it can respond to user requests by app and choose an optimized route
to them.
Shared mobility. Seats are benches that promote conversation and
interaction between passengers.
Several utilities: mobile pharmacy, mobile library... which allows services
to be brought closer to under-communicated areas or areas with special
needs (reduced mobility, elderly people...).
muji.com/muji-gacha/
sensible4.fi/
Developed together with Sensible 4 self driving
software company specialized in extreme weather
situations.

28. UPS
Gacha by Muji
Siemens
MOIA
Flying cars
new.siemens.com/global/en/products/
mobility/rail-solutions/rolling-stock/trams-
and-light-rail/autonomous-tram.html
Presented at InnoTrans 2018 and tested with real traffic in Postdam,
improving its driving algorithm.
There is no commercial version, it is only being used to meet the challenges
of an open infrastructure based on algorithms that evaluate driving and can
predict the evolution of traffic.
The goal is to react in real time to the needs of users.

29. UPS
Gacha by Muji
Siemens
MOIA
Flying cars
moia.io/en
Start up of shared mobility by Volkswagen.
Through the MOIA application you can book a trip and pay.
Sharing the trip reduces the number of displacements, all
vehicles are electric.
Partners: they have acquired part of Gett (MyTaxi kind off
application that works only in the UK for electric taxis).
Its goal is a new range of autonomous and
electric vehicles, both for mobility purposes
and for other scopes (trucks, conmuter,
vans...).

30. UPS
Gacha by Muji
Siemens
MOIA
Flying cars
uber.com/es/es-es/elevate/
Uber
Markets: Australia, Brazil, France, India and Japan. The goal is to launch
test flights in several cities in 2020 and the first paid operation in 2023.
It will also launch the home delivery programme with drones, which is
already being tested in San Diego and will soon reach new regions.
Uber has evolved into a complete range of urban mobility: scooters
(Lime), Uber eats, bicycles, UberCopters..
EHang
EHang 184 fully autonomous and electric air taxi, drone type. On April
4th they held a premiere in Vienna.
The service is requested by application that calculates the route and
inside the taxi there is only one take-off button.
Together with DHL it has already started the delivery service with drones..
ehang.com/ehang184/

31. 01
From A to B
02
Expand business models
03
Not start from 0
The user will stop thinking about
the means of transport and will
begin to think simply about going
from A to B. Therefore it is
necessary to meet the needs of
customers in real time.
It is necessary to think beyond
the classic market segmentation
and address use cases that share
the same mobility characteristics
- beyond borders.
You no longer need to be a mobility
provider to integrate mobility into
your service.
Consider new business models that
take advantage of the benefits of
adding mobility to the service
layer.
Mobility as a service solution.
A s m o b i l i t y b e c o m e s a n
ecosystem, many aspects will
connect or merge. At this point, the
main economic and social value
lies in the intelligent management
of the system.
It will be essential to connect this
mobility system to the existing
infrastructure, manage access to it
and allow expansion to other
adjacent service areas.
04
Partners
Many of the necessities are not yet
covered.
Discovering and solving them will
require collaboration and white-
label platforms, consolidation of
APIs and partnerships, both public
and private.

32. From the shower to the
ocean
Our concern for global warming, pollution and
sustainability has changed.
Where it used to be "too big to do anything about it", it
is now an individual action.
Justin Hofman, on Instagram 12 de Septiembre de 2017

33. makingoceansplasticfree.com
NASA scientists published a study showing that the
average surface temperature of the Earth in 2018 was
the fourth highest in nearly 140 years of record and a
continuation of an unmistakable warming trend.
nytimes.com/interactive/2019/02/06/climate/fourth-hottest-
year.html

34. Secondly, after oil, the (fast)
fashion industry is the world's
biggest polluter.
The fashion industry contributes
10% of global greenhouse gas
emissions due to its long supply
chains and energy-intensive
production.
Nearly 20% of the world's
wastewater is produced by the
fashion industry.
20,000 liters is the volume of water
needed to produce one kilogram of
cotton; equivalent to a single T-
shirt and a pair of jeans.
fashionunited.com/global-fashion-industry-statistics/

35. 253 tonnes of
textiles sent to
landfill daily in Hong
Kong.

37. Rana Plaza
April 24, 2013
Daca, capital of Bangladesh
1127
dead
2437
injured
Benetton Group, The
Children's Place, DressBarn,
Mango, Monsoon, Inditex
and Primark, as well as for
distribution companies such
as El Corte Inglés.

38. DON´T BUY

39. Keeping clothes in use for just nine
months longer can reduce carbon
footprints, water and waste by
20-30%.
It’s Black Friday, the day in the year retail turns
from red to black and starts to make real money.
But Black Friday, and the culture of consumption it
reflects, puts the economy of natural systems that
support all life firmly in the red. We’re now using the
resources of one-and-a-half planets on our one and
only planet.
REDUCE
WE make useful gear that lasts a long time
YOU don’t buy what you don’t need
REPAIR
WE help you repair your Patagonia gear
YOU pledge to fix what’s broken
DON’T BUY
THIS JACKET
water, enough to meet the daily needs (three glasses
a day) of 45 people. Its journey from its origin as
60% recycled polyester to our Reno warehouse
generated nearly 20 pounds of carbon dioxide, 24
times the weight of the finished product. This jacket
left behind, on its way to Reno, two-thirds its weight
in waste.
wornwear.patagonia.com/
Worn Wear
Patagonia
Nike Grind
Terra Cycle
Loop US
iFixit
TooGoodToGo
anuncioBlackFridayenNYT,2011

40. nike.com/es/es_es/c/innovation/grind
Flyknit reduces waste material by an average of 60%.
Since the technology was introduced in 2012, the
dumping of 182 million plastic bottles has been
avoided.
Worn Wear
Patagonia
Nike Grind
Terra Cycle
Loop US
iFixit
TooGoodToGo
Waste of sneakers turned into athletics tracks in the
most deprived places.

41. terracycle.com/es-ES/
Worn Wear
Patagonia
Nike Grind
Terra Cycle
Loop US
iFixit
TooGoodToGo
If the waste material is not thrown away, it is one more raw material.
Eliminating the Idea of Waste®
Upcycle and recycle multi-source materials

42. loopstore.com/
Worn Wear
Patagonia
Nike Grind
Terra Cycle
Loop US
iFixit
TooGoodToGo
The consumer enjoys the product, but the packaging
belongs to the distributor.
Product as a service (netflix paradigm).
The shine new product.

43. es.ifixit.com/
Worn Wear
Patagonia
Nike Grind
Terra Cycle
Loop US
iFixit
TooGoodToGo
iFixit has created a community of makers in its fight
against programmed obsolescence.
Open Source Knowledge.
Now, it has become a brand of tools and gadgets for
anyone to do it.

44. toogoodtogo.es/es
Worn Wear
Patagonia
Nike Grind
Terra Cycle
Loop US
iFixit
TooGoodToGo
##Lacomidanosetira born in Denmark in 2016 with one goal: to combat
food waste. The application allows establishments from supermarkets to
restaurants and hotels, can reduce their excess daily food, selling it at a
lower price.
It also allows direct donations to Action Contra el Hambre.
Spain, the seventh country in the European Union
to waste more food with more than 7.7 million
tonnes of food thrown away each year.

45. nikecirculardesign.com/
01
Selecting low-impact
materials that use pre- &
post-consumer recycled
feedstock.
02
Designing with the end in
mind; thinking through how
a product will be recycled at
the end of use.
03
Minimizing or eliminating
waste in the product
creation process.

46. nikecirculardesign.com/
04
Products that can easily be
taken apart; recognizing
the value of each
component.
05
Chemical products &
processes that reduce or
eliminate the use of
hazardous substances.
06
Prolonging the use of a
product through repair of
component parts or
materials.

47. nikecirculardesign.com/
07
Products that easily adapt
to growth, style, trend,
gender, activity and
purpose.
Timeless
08
Products made stronger by
method of make and
durable material choices.
09
Purposeful packaging, made
of materials that can be
repurposed, recycled, or
biodegrade.

48. nikecirculardesign.com/
10
Establishing new service and business
models to extend product life cycle.

49. 01
Inclusivity
02
Digital Detox
03
Online-Offline
04
Shared Mobility
05
Circular economy

50. To the infinity and beyond
Buzz Lightyear
MUJI creates a mobility service, WeWork new ways of
living and Siemens traffic algorithms.
Design is not an activity or practice but a way of thinking, a framework
for problem solving.
Ideation, prototype, validation.

51. But at the centre of everything is the
human being, design can not change
the world, designers can.
Hartmut Esslinger