Last week we walked through the . The trends covered there speak of the current positivity wave, with most people looking to live a more wholesome, fulfilled life. In , Ryan Chen (Director of Design & Innovation Strategy at the Bressler Group) talks about five more points he considers pivotal in shaping up the future of product design. Looking to hire a talented designer?   with us to source the best talent for your requirement. Want an amazing internship or job opportunity? Check out   to work at some of the best design companies in the world. The Five Global Megatrends I wrote about last month touched on a number of fundamental shifts in consumer and social trends, and their implications for design. The picture they painted was of a more pared down, meaning-focused world, where just enough is better than too much, focus is better than distraction, and well-being trumps getting ahead. But they only paint a partial picture of what the next decade is going to look like — there’s also a lot changing in the way we communicate with each other, our ability to impact the world around us, and our expectations for products and services to understand and adapt to our needs. To get a full understanding of what’s going to change in the next five to ten years, and how brands and organizations need to change in order to stay relevant, you need to go deeper. These next five megatrends plumb the depths of identity, community, and meaning, revealing some sky-high expectations from consumers, but also an increased willingness to form lasting relationships, especially with communities (and products) that treat us as individuals rather than just wallets or eyeballs. 6. Radical Personalization Never before has it been so easy or cheap to personalize products and experiences. Where bespoke and highly targeted offerings were once reserved for the wealthy and sophisticated, such customization is now commonplace, for everything from laptops and athletic shoes to vacations and medical advice. Part of the appeal is function: a personalized product satisfies your specific needs more completely and efficiently than a one-size-fits-all alternative. But the emotional aspect is perhaps even more important. If you want to build a true connection between consumer and brand, there’s nothing more direct or more certain than giving them something unique, that shows you know them and understand their individuality like no one else does. What’s driving this trend? What does this imply for design? 7. Search for Authenticity More abundant, more probing media and the rise of fake-everything means consumers rarely take things at face value anymore. And in an era when anyone can publish content, there’s no reason to rely on the traditional sources for our information. All of this makes it much harder for brands to convince consumers that they’re for real. “Symmetry of Information” is one of the most promising responses to this skepticism: the idea that customers should know as much about the brand as the brand knows about them. While marketing campaigns are often met with skepticism, a clear window into the workings of the company is hard to dismiss, especially if it comes with a shift in policy, away from misleading images, statements or practices. What’s driving this trend? What does this imply for design? 8. Connection/Disconnection For decades, technology and telecommunications have worked relentlessly to give us more access, more information, more communication — and now it seems we’re victims of their success. Bandwidth is so cheap and communication channels so abundant today that choosing when and how to be connected has become a treasured capability. Increasingly, this means services that make connection easier with the right people or information, while providing more fine-grained control over who we interact with, when, and in what context. In some cases, it can also mean disconnecting, as evidenced by the proliferation of “digital detox” vacations and device-free events. What’s driving this trend? What does this imply for design? 9. Empowered Individual The line between consumer and producer has been blurring for years, with newly democratized tools for producing and publishing content, and communications platforms that allow entire new movements to spring up practically overnight. For companies this can be a two-edged sword: empowered individuals can be tremendous marketing allies, merciless critics, or even upstart competitors. Many brands are seizing on this fluidity as a source of ideas and a way to activate their customer communities. It’s still early days though, and a poorly executed customer engagement effort can easily come across as a cynical attempt to exploit authentic social connection for commercial gain. What’s driving this trend? What does this imply for design? 10. Consumer Remapped More granular information about customers and more powerful ways of processing it are giving companies unprecedented insight into who’s using their products and services, and what their interests and needs are. This has the potential to revolutionize market segmentation, making it far more granular, and accurate, while also letting customer service associates know more about who they’re talking to when offering assistance or solving problems. The results of all this insight can upset accepted wisdom: it turns out that consumers are more likely to fall into a spectrum than a series of buckets. Some skateboarders are girls, some makeup users are men or transgender, and some NBA fans are disabled. In the past these were dismissed as niches too small to address, but with today’s informational and personalization tools, they’re sources for growth — and intense loyalty for the brands that get there first. What’s driving this trend? What does this imply for design? The original write-up on the Bressler Group blog by Ryan Chen can be found  . Yanko Design has a long established designer following that you can connect to by publishing your requirement on our network. We know that   will connect you to the best designers as they follow the best content published by us.   and get featured on our extensive Social Media network.