It’s really hard to predict the future, although science fiction writers seem to be quite good at it. Imagine for a moment, the earth in decay and the only real salvation can be found inside a virtual world: the OASIS. Ernest Cline’s premise for Ready Player One is not so far from the realms of belief. Cline was at SXSW this week with Steven Spielberg to premier the movie version of the novel. Every year SXSW attracts the brightest minds to Austin to celebrate the convergence of interactive, film and music. It gave birth to Twitter and sits at the forefront of technology. But underneath the alternate realities, machine learning and crypto-currency lay a very human message.

“We live a designed life. The quality of our life is the quality of the design. Understanding the design of life is a critical dimension.” 
Bruce Mau

How do we design for the future, now?

We are not separate from or above nature

All of life is a design project. Even nature requires us to design ways of protecting fragile ecologies. Whilst humans sit at the heart of many new innovations, we need to take out ‘all mankind’ and replace with ‘all of life.’ Bruce Mau, acclaimed author and designer of books, cities, carpets and movements, implored each person at SXSW to make their pixel more beautiful and add it to the collective image. “The welfare of all life is truly our 21st century ambition.”

Design to improve the quality of life

There’s a responsibility for designers and innovators to think about what the new society they’re creating means for all people, not just the privileged few. By thinking of people on a sliding scale, rather than in categories, we can start to create design that is utilitarian. For example, people with mental illness are an extreme version of all of us. As we are designing for people with mental illness, we are designing for the mental wellness of us all. As an example, IDEO has developed a baby monitor that can spot post-natal depression. Eventually it will collect enough data to spot the early signs of the condition.

Open the door and leave it open

SXSW 2018 had many inspirational women keynote speakers, throwing down ladders for more of us to climb up. “When you don’t have women and people of colour in positions of power, issues are not seen and that’s how companies get into trouble,” said Bozoma Saint John, Chief Brand Officer at Uber. She has taken on the challenge of changing the culture and perception of the troubled ride-sharing behemoth. It’s not the responsibility of one company or individual; the entire industry needs to move the conversation forward. In the 20th century the women made the changes, now is the time for the men to come along.

Relationships are your story, write well and edit

When focusing on the future it can be easy to lose sight of our relationships in the present. “The quality of your relationships is what determines the quality of your life. Relationships are your story, write well and edit often,” said rockstar couples’ therapist Esther Perel. Being more open and expressing emotion reminds us that we’re all the same. The best stories are expressed with a lot of feelings. “If you tell interesting stories you’ll get them back,” said Ira Glass, creator of This American Life. We can all find details that will help us to relate to each other and stay interested in the bigger narrative.

Design for a future with no screens

2018 is the beginning of the end of smartphones. We’re already starting to see sales drop off as people choose to invest in other digital assistants such as the watch, ear buds and fitness trackers. Futurist Amy Webb launched her 11th annual Tech Trends Report which predicts that over the next 10 years we’ll be migrating over to non-visual, conversational interfaces. Voiceprints will divulge our health, age and mental wellness. Whilst AR has taken a backseat to VR, it’s expected this technology will have a slower, more lasting growth. Watch out for the much talked about Magic Leap headset.

Blockchain is helping us to take back control

In 2009 Bitcoin was invented, and as a consequence so was Blockchain, the Bitcoin payment system and crypto-economics. Blockchain is the method of validating transactions and securing a network without government or institutional intervention, which is why Bitcoin is often described as ‘money of the people, by the people, for the people.’ This makes it perfect for a generation that has lost trust in large institutions and is looking to take back more control of their money and transactions. Blockchain will expose the way we’re making products and it will also help companies to leverage the value of their local city by cutting out the middle man.

We all have the opportunity to make the future human centric. By taking action on the trends in the present, we have an opportunity to make the future we want to live in.

“We talk about tech, but we forget we’re human beings. We can use technology to better our lives, but we also need to connect to other people”
Bozoma Saint John