Future and Trends Research
Research Methodologies:
1. Quantitative Research: Field Research, Desk Research, Interview
2. Qualitative Research: Pattern Recognition, Triangulation, Trend CartogramsExecution: Trend Cards are the bridge to communicate with people about what might happen in the future.
Trend Cards
Trends are "new" in all aspects of our culture that can be the objects, emotions, intellectual or spiritual in our society.
Trends are patterns or anomalies that can affect people to adopt new ways of doing things or expressing themselves.
Trends are happening right now and will be one of those tomorrow's mainstream ideas in the future that are in multiple directions and movements.
Strategist as an Investigator
From Here
Futures and trends are happening today.
To Collect
A strategist uses mixing skills to collect various information.
Get There
Companies understand the trends and accept these "new" futures. They could build new user experiences, based on users’ expectations.
“The future is here; it’s just not very well distributed.”
Research Methodologies
Grounded Theory Analysis is a systematic methodology in the social sciences that takes a bottom-up, data-driven approach to generate assertions about larger ideas, trends, and movements based on research collected around a directional brief.
Research and analysis were conducted in 4 sections for 15 weeks investigation:
Section 1: Field Research + Pattern Recognition
Field Research: Investigate food for early expressions of what's new and next in the culture.
Area: San Francisco Bay Area.
Collection: More than 2000 weak signals with the categories of new and next products, packaging, retail experiences, consumer/sociological behavior, business practices, and the lens of food, beverage, and related activities.
Pattern Recognition: Structure the early sense-making to reveal the broad categories of change for exploring and verifying further investigations.
Section 2: Innovator & Early Adopter Insights
Interview: Get the insights of new and next from more than 100 one-on-one innovator and early adopters interviews.
Interviewees: Innovators and early adopters were selected as salients from Section 1 to the broad categories of change.
Technique: Card sorting, by choosing keywords and conceptual principles relating to the type of change.
Section 3: Desk Research + Triangulation
Desk Research: Triangulate the types of change identified in Section 1 and Section 2.
Collection: More than 1300 weak signals were sought globally in the areas of art, architecture, advertising, design, and technology.
Triangulation: Find and compare the synchronous needs and desires on new and next products, services, concepts, and experiences with those revealed in the field research.
Section 4: Trend Cartograms + Trend Cards
Analyze the category of change in Trend Cartograms amongst an abundance of signals, expressing in two or more sectors and indicate emerging cultural sentiments key to the near-term future. Then, create the Trend Cards based on all the research and data that we collected from Section 1, Section 2, and Section 3.