At Fjord we have great expertise in mobile device design, but also in service design and cross-platform design. The first ever project we did at Fjord back in 2001 was a cross-platform solution that included both web and mobile touch points.
In my presentation in Bonn I introduced Fjord’s view on what we have dubbed the third wave of mobility, where the key is understanding people rather than just technology.
We have all recognised the seismic shift that has occurred with the ubiquity of the mobile. Today two thirds of the world’s population has a mobile subscription – this is three times the number of computers and double the number of bank accounts in the world.
We are now seeing the reality of what visionaries were talking about a decade ago. Back then the conversations were about a single device capable of bringing together all media and content – smart enough to know where you were – and all controlled by the individual.
This reality is now with us, and the most fundamental change taking place at the moment is the merger of the last two mass media we have created – Internet and mobile.
The fact that you can now access Internet content through your mobile devices anywhere has been discussed a lot. What has not been discussed as much is how much smarter and more personalised the Internet is becoming – thanks to these connected mobile devices. When mobile devices around the planet connect to the Internet they have the possibility of teaching the cloud a number of things: a person’s location, their speed and direction, their connectivity mode, etc. When you consider that this happens in real time and with millions of people, it becomes clear that people on the move are feeding the cloud and making it infinitely smarter – in ways and at a scale not imaginable even just a few years ago. Personal media creation has shifted from cameras and camcorders to mobile devices, and increasingly photos and videos captured on the move are shared to the cloud instantly. Also people in front of their laptops, connected TVs, and tablets will benefit from the smarter and richer real-time cloud.
We’re now experiencing this third wave of mobility, and a new mindset is required for it. The shift in mindset is from an industrial mindset – where technical know-how and efficiency were the key to success – to a design mindset – where it is critical to understand people and their needs, and craft tailored experiences for them, utilising the ubiquitous and increasingly intelligent cloud.
We need to stop thinking of digital media as destinations, and instead think of digital solutions as essential ingredients in life. We also need to move on from tightly controlled mass produced services and marketing messages to elegantly simple solutions that are tailored and relevant for the individual – regardless of where they are and how they are connected.
For further information about the CIA event, click here.
Olof Schybergson / CEO of Fjord
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