South By South Best 2019

Copyright: James Quinlan 2019
South By South Best 2019
What’s Next For Brands And Businesses:
The Key Trends From SXSW 2019
Image source: James Quinlan

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James Quinlan
Brand Experience Strategist
linkedin.com/in/jayjayquinlan/

Copyright James Quinlan 2019
3 Copyright: James Quinlan 2019

Introduction to SXSW
Agenda
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The Key Trends From SXSW 2019 (And How To Actually Use Them)
What’s Next In Music: What To Listen To In 2019

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1. Introduction to SXSW

6 Copyright: James Quinlan 2019

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“New relationships, new ideas,
new ways forward for the future.”
- Roland Swenson, CEO and Co-Founder, SXSW

10 Image source: busybeaver.net

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Image source: James Quinlan; celiahodent.com/about
What actually goes on at SXSW?
11.00am – 12.00pm 12.30pm – 1.30pm
Link

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2. The Key Trends From SXSW 2019
(And How To Actually Use Them)

‘We tend to overestimate the effect of
a technology in the short run and
underestimate the effect in the long run.’
- Roy C. Amara, Institute For The Future (Palo Alto)
Amara’s Law
Image source: sfgate.com

Copyright: James Quinlan 2019Image source: wsj.com, bmkt261adcritique.blogspot.com, vox.com, smartshanghai.com, shutterstock.com
SXSW: Key Macrotrends And Subtrends
Macrotrend 1: All the R’s…AR, XR, MR, VR, CR
Macrotrend 2: Bringing People Together
Macrotrend 3: The Post Truth Era
Macrotrend 4: New Tools For Design
Macrotrend 5: Old Dogs, New Tricks
Subtrend 1: Better Together
Subtrend 2: Audio Reality
Subtrend 1: Not Only The Lonely
Subtrend 2: Designing For Inclusion
Subtrend 1: Ethical AI
Subtrend 2: Real News
Subtrend 1: (Even More) Natural User Interaction
Subtrend 2: Designing With Data (And Vice Versa)
Subtrend 1: The Fight Back
Subtrend 2: Deeper Connection

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Image source: wsj.com

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“There is only one map but an infinite number of realities can exist there.”*
1. Better Together
2. Audio Reality
Augmented reality, cross reality, mixed reality, virtual reality, cinematic reality…that’s a lot of realities, but what’s
the truth? Developing technologies such as 5G and the AR Cloud (a 3D digital copy of the real world) are
helping grow the R’s beyond novelties into something that’s truly meaningful and, even, useful. Oh, and don’t
forget to connect this trend with last’s year’s hottest thing: blockchain.
Whichever R you’re referring to the new “reality” is immersive – and comes in a range of formats that can
heighten people's level of engagement with a brand, a cause and each other.
Source: Luke Ritchie, “The Future Of Live Experiences” (panel)

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The R’s are made much smarter – and are more likely to become truly useful – when combined with other
technologies such as geolocation and mapping, or…
Image source: insight.cz

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…with blockchain. Combining these technologies helps your device to better understand what it’s seeing.
Image source: itunes.apple.com

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While the R’s have historically been thought of as visual-based platforms, other senses such as audio are now
being explored by companies such as Bose to create new realities.
Image source: voicebot.ai

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This space opens up the opportunity for collaborations between brands – such as the recently announced audio
“smart glasses” by Huawei and eyewear brand Gentle Monster.
Image source: techcrunch.com

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All the R’s…AR, XR, MR, VR, CR: Implications
• Don’t clutter people’s real world experiences with technology – remember that the majority of the R’s
are there to augment and enhance, not actually replace what’s going on.
• Entertainment isn’t dead in this space – but avoid novelty (as people aren’t likely to return for a second
experience) and aim to create true and, hopefully, ongoing utility.
• The R’s aren’t necessarily about a solo experience – consider how to use this technology in order to
connect people.
• Just like other experiences that we create for people, privacy and data security will become increasing
concerns, meaning that transparency will become as important as immersion.

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Image source: bmkt261adcritique.blogspot.com

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Understanding what people need to do is a core principle of good design – but in today’s
(dis)connected world should we also focus on bringing them together?
1. Not Only The Lonely
2. Designing For Inclusion
While we are more connected than ever before, we’re also increasingly disconnected – with loneliness, and its
negative health outcomes, on the rise around the world. However it’s not just the usual suspect (social media) that
is to blame, the rise of the “gig economy” and entrepreneurialism are also involved in keeping us apart. Similarly,
designing for people with disability typically ends up separating people because it focuses on the disability, rather
than the person.
Let’s not focus on what separates us, or even what we have in common – instead let’s concentrate on actively
bringing people together.

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If you feel lonely in either your personal or your professional lives you’re not alone. In either situation the solution is the
same: meaningful relationships. We need to design more spaces that encourage interaction – whether a co-working
space that brings freelancers together or a restaurant where people get a discount for dining at a shared table.
Image source: gettyimages.com; videoblocks.com

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Image source: community.bulb.co.uk
Designing for social interaction doesn’t have to be a project’s core objective – “Every project should contain a gift”*
*Bjarke Ingels

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An aging population and the rise of technologies such as the Internet of Things and AI have fueled the development
of assistive technology for the 1.3 billion people who live with disability. However some brands are going beyond
this, to create designs based around the principles of universal accessibility and utility.
Image source: qz.com

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Braille Neue is a universal typeface that combines Braille and visible characters to engage multiple senses in order to
be legible to sighted people and those with vision impairments.
Image source: thisiscolossal.com

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• The more interactive the design, potentially the deeper the user’s relationship with your product will
be. People have five senses – so why do we spend so much time designing for the eyes alone?
Consider how to design for at least two senses where possible.
• Designing to bring people together has the potential not only to produce a better experience, but also
to increase the size of your market (for a previous example see what Calvin Klein’s CK One did in
1994 by creating a unisex scent).
• Products that go beyond assistive design to be universally inclusive say a lot about their brand and
how it views the world.
Bringing People Together: Implications

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Macrotrend 3: The Post Trust Era
Image source: vox.com

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Macrotrend 3: The Post Trust Era
“A single lie discovered is enough to create doubt in every truth expressed.”*
Finding the truth in today's world is only getting harder. However as artificial intelligence plays an increasing role
in our lives, the ability for people to tell what’s true (and what’s not) may get worse rather than better – so what
can we do to increase people’s trust in what we do?
Credibility is likely to become an increasingly valuable commodity – but how can you achieve it today?
1. Ethical AI
2. Real News
*Anon

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Subtrend 1: Ethical AI
AI isn’t necessarily impartial. As with “real” intelligence, without a sufficiently representative set of inputs (training data),
AI is capable of the same biased decision making as humans (with the difference that it can do it much more quickly).
Image source: digitalistmag.com

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With a news cycle that is now 24/7, and likely to be served up by an algorithm instead of a person, sorting fact from
fiction is harder than ever before – meaning that the issue needs to be addressed through a range of initiatives.
Image source: youtube.com

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Of course if private organisations don’t clean up fake news, government might step in.
Image source: youtube.com
Image: theguardian.com

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The Post Trust Era: Implications
• Consider “opening the black box” of AI. EU data protection laws require companies to give citizens
“meaningful information about the logic” of automated decision-making processes (known as a right to
explanation). While this does not require companies to divulge their code, it encourages transparency
about why decisions are made.
• Build diversity into everything that your company does – including data sets (remember: “garbage in =
garbage out”).
• The “truth” can evolve over time. Equally, AI is not a set and forget proposition, constant evaluation of
performance and tuning is required.
• Knowledge, mixed with constant vigilance, is power – stay on top of what others are saying about you
(social media listening) and doing in relation to you (search analysis).

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Macro Trend 4: New Tools For Design
Image source: creative-analytics.corsairs.network
Image source: smartshanghai.com

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“Design is where science and art break even.”*
The design palette – and team (including data scientists) – is growing in size, with the result that interfaces are
more natural, and less visible, than ever before.
Dieter Rams’ has long had an ambition for products to have “as little design as possible”, but how best to
actually realise this?
1. (Even More) Natural User Interaction
2. Everyday Design With Data
*Robin Mathew

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Subtrend 1: (Even More) Natural User Interaction
Image source: alizila.com
It’s not just what you say, but also how you say it. Alibaba’s “smart ordering system” uses a mix of voice and visual
recognition – including the speaker’s pace, pauses, breaths between words and facial expressions – to increase the
efficiency of the customer experience (even when all you want is a better cup of coffee).

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Subtrend 2: Designing With Data (And Vice Versa)
Data science helps design thinking. Design thinking helps data science. So why do we still see Google search
results such as “Which is a better career? Data Scientist or UX designer?” Perhaps the more interesting search
result is “Data scientists are the next UX designers”. Clearly the two groups have a lot to learn from one another.
Image source: dogtownmedia.com
*Nina Ritz, uxpin.com

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New Tools For Design: Implications
• We are in the era of the “expert generalist”*, especially in a small market such as Australia. While UX
and data scientist will continue to be separate roles, to work together we need at least a working
knowledge of how each other works and that means upskilling both professions.
• Voice is an increasingly accepted interface in the home (just look at the most recent season of The
Block…), consider how it can be deployed outside of the home, and potentially combined with other
technologies such as facial recognition, to enhance the customer experience.
• When designing a natural user interface keep context in mind – Alibaba’s system uses voice and facial
recognition to overcome the limitations of either in a crowded and noisy quick service restaurant
environment such as Starbucks.
*Orbit Gadiesh

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Image source: shutterstock.com

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“The past is never dead. It’s not even past.”*
Everything old…isn’t necessarily so old anymore. A mix of technology, increasing people’s levels of engagement
and contributing to what made things great in the first place is helping a range of cultural properties to see of
competition and helping people to fall in love with them (again).
It’s back to the future – just find out why people fell in love with something in the first place.
1. The Fight Back
2. Deeper Connection
*William Faulkner

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2019 is the year that global “over the top” video subscription revenues are predicted to exceed the value of the global
cinema box office.* Like the music industry before them, traditional media such as books and movies are competing for
people’s time, attention, and money, and are being forced to innovate their experience.
Image source: infotime.site
: *broadbandtvnews.com

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This trend extends to sports and their major investments in professional esports (not to be confused with gaming),
including increasingly successful ones such as the NBA or those looking to appeal to a new audience such as F1.
Image source: f1esports.com

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Subtrend 2: Deeper Connection
Similar to books and films, sports are also having to address increased competition for people’s attention –
important for activities where 99% of fans will never attend a game in person.*
Image source: cnet.com
*Jeff Marsilio, NBA

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Old Dogs, New Tricks: Implications
• Just because people aren’t able to experience your property in person doesn’t mean that they can’t
have a deep and highly personalised experience with it.
• Remember that your competition for people’s time and spend isn’t just what’s in your category – it’s
everything that people can give their attention to.
• The best time to innovate is at the height of your success. Despite historically high viewership, the
NBA is investing considerably in an esports series as well as new technologies such as AR, meaning
that when these take off on a mass level that they will be well placed to capitalise on them.

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3 April 2019
3. What’s Next In Music:
What To Listen To In 2019

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Ought
Image source: cstrecords.com/
Copyright: James Quinlan 2019Copyright: James Quinlan 2019
Sam Fender
Image source: diymag.com

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The Ninth Wave
Image source: diymag.com

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Soak
Image source: standard.co.uk

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Sego
Image source: issuemagazine.com

Thank y’all.
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Image source: sxsw.com

South By South Best 2019

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