Fjord Trends 2020 highlights seven
emerging trends expected to shape the business of experience
TORONTO, Dec. 12, 2019 /CNW/ - Following
an unprecedented streak of fast-paced growth and profitability,
businesses are beginning to feel the need for deep soul searching.
As a new decade approaches, they must look inwards for a total
re-examination of their purpose and place in the world, says a
new report by Accenture (NYSE: ACN). Now in its 13th
year, Fjord Trends 2020 takes its annual look ahead to the future
of business, technology and design, according to Fjord, design and
innovation from Accenture Interactive.
2019 has been a year of climate crisis activism, Big Tech
accountability, the booms and busts of the gig economy, and the
commitment of 181 top CEOs to redefine the Statement of
Purpose of a Corporation. Changing mindsets, accelerated by rising
digital adoption, have reached the C-suite, forcing leaders to
reconsider the very principles their organizations are built on.
The report notes that economics and politics, capitalism and
resources, and technology and society have long been entwined, but
only now have the consequences of their entanglement burst into the
public consciousness.
"Protests about capitalism's trajectory of endless growth
defined by profit alone are moving from shouting in the streets to
conversations in the boardroom. With this comes an imperative to
find new ways to measure growth," said Scott Weisbrod, group service design director
and studio head at Fjord in Canada. "These new values may change how we
perceive the meaning of business in the decade ahead. One thing is
clear: winners will be those organizations with sustainable
business models and a long-term view of themselves and their impact
on the world."
Stephen Gardiner, senior managing
director and head of Accenture Digital in Canada added: "We're starting to see our
clients reorienting towards purposeful transformation. The decade
ahead will see a challenging of fundamentals, which provides an
opportunity for businesses to transform their offerings into
something more mindful, meaningful and forward-thinking. The shift
from a 'me' to a 'we' mindset will prompt a need for design to
switch from a user-centered to a life-centered approach."
Fjord Trends 2020 examines seven emerging trends
expected to shape the business of experience and provides practical
advice on how organizations can embrace the new era ahead.
- Many faces of growth: Capitalism is facing a
mid-life crisis. Success no longer solely equates to growth and
organizations must start reassessing corporate purpose and
recalibrate how they see their role in the world around them.
- Money changers: How we perceive money and pay for things
is rapidly changing. These tectonic shifts create numerous
opportunities for a host of new products and players.
- Walking barcodes: Our physical bodies are becoming
as trackable as our digital selves. When it comes to facial and
body recognition technology, what is the trade-off between privacy
and convenience?
- Liquid people: Consumption habits are changing as
people perceive and define their identity in ever more liquid ways.
Considerable opportunity exists in providing new experiences of
consuming.
- Designing intelligence: The human experience is
growing increasingly complex. The next step for AI is to move
beyond automation to designing systems that blend human and
artificial intelligence and enhance the interplay between
both.
- Digital doubles: Make way for your digital double
who works for you and knows what you want. Digital twins are
evolving beyond industry and into our daily lives.
- Life-centered design: The focus of desirability,
viability, and feasibility is moving from "me" to "we." Can design
extend beyond its own ecosystem, shifting from a user-centered to a
life-centered
approach?
Fjord Trends 2020 draws upon the collective thinking of Fjord's
1,200+ designers and developers in 33 studios around the world. The
annual crowdsourced report is based on first-hand observations,
evidenced-based research and client work. This year, the
contributions from Fjord's new Tokyo studio and the acquisition INSITUM have
added another 250 points of view from Japan and across Latin America, making this the most globally
diverse set of Fjord Trends ever. To read the report, visit:
accenture.com/Fjordtrends2020 or trends.fjordnet.com and discuss on
Twitter #FjordTrends.
About Accenture
Accenture is a leading global professional services company,
providing a broad range of services and solutions in strategy,
consulting, digital, technology and operations. Combining unmatched
experience and specialized skills across more than 40 industries
and all business functions — underpinned by the world's largest
delivery network — Accenture works at the intersection of business
and technology to help clients improve their performance and create
sustainable value for their stakeholders. With 492,000 people
serving clients in more than 120 countries, Accenture drives
innovation to improve the way the world works and lives. Visit us
at www.accenture.com.
Accenture Interactive drives sustainable growth for clients
by creating meaningful Experiences that live at the
intersection of purpose and innovation. In helping leading brands
design, build and run Experiences across the entire journey—be it
for a customer, employee, patient or citizen—Accenture Interactive
leverages deep capabilities across three core offerings: New
Propositions, Products and Services; Marketing, Content and
Engagement; and Experience Platforms. Accenture Interactive is
ranked the world's largest digital agency in the latest Ad Age
Agency Report, for the fourth year in a row, and was named a 2019
Most Innovative Company in Advertising by Fast Company. Fjord,
Accenture Interactive's design and innovation unit, reimagines
people's relationships with the digital and physical world around
them, using the power of design to create services people love. To
learn more, follow us @AccentureACTIVE or @fjord and
visit www.accentureinteractive.com or
www.fjordnet.com.
SOURCE Accenture