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Bonus Workshop

Instructor: Jeremy Gutsche
When you envision how the near future might look, It's likely you cite changes that are perhaps already taking place. This module highlights an activity to fast-track your thinking and rework how you view time and progress.

By internalizing the pace of change that has already happened, you’ll realize that your far-future predictions are likely not that far off. The exercise highlighted in this module will help you prepare for it.
Workshop Questions:
1. If you could turn back time to 5 years ago, what would you change about your brand's plans? What would you keep?
2. What is one industry shift that has greatly impacted your business that you didn't see coming?
Access Advisory Services

Insights by Trend Hunter AI

Persistent Context
Business systems keep digital helpers active across ongoing work

What's Happening - Enterprise tools are shifting from one-off prompts to software that stays active inside day-to-day business processes. Instead of waiting for a user to ask, these systems watch for events and prepare next steps. Companies are applying this model to specific operational areas such as sales, retail operations, and finance.

Workshop Question - How could your brand decide which decisions software can handle quietly and which should stay human-led?
6.5
Score
Popularity
Activity
Freshness
Patterns
Megatrends
Dial Sculpture
Prestige watchmakers turn horology into display-led adornment

What's Happening - Luxury watchmaking is embracing sculptural forms and unconventional displays that position timepieces as wearable design. Lugless cases and wandering-hour mechanisms challenge familiar silhouettes and traditional timekeeping, while aventurine dials and color-blocked chronographs introduce visual depth. Together, these details make aesthetic experimentation a key differentiator in the category.

Workshop Question - How could your brand turn a functional product into a more visibly expressive object people want to wear or display?
7.4
Score
Popularity
Activity
Freshness
Patterns
Megatrends
Structured Stacks
Companies are rebuilding back-office software for machine action

What's Happening - As AI takes on more operational tasks, trust increasingly depends on visibility and control. Finance and operations platforms are connecting data and workflows to automate routine actions, but users are more likely to delegate sensitive work when they can review activity, interrupt processes, and correct outcomes. The result is a shift toward connected systems that reduce administrative effort while keeping human oversight in the loop.

Workshop Question - How could your brand redesign its systems so AI can complete low-risk work across tools without creating new friction for users?
7.5
Score
Popularity
Activity
Freshness
Patterns
Megatrends
Journey Memory
AI services keep context across extended decisions and service flows

What's Happening - Brands are introducing AI helpers that stay involved beyond a single prompt, with the capability to carry forward prior details, documents, and preferences. These systems are supporting longer processes such as travel changes, property searches, and trade-in evaluation. The shift turns AI from a one-time answer tool into a running point of contact.

Workshop Question - How could your brand reduce customer repetition by preserving context across a multi-step journey?
5.7
Score
Popularity
Activity
Freshness
Patterns
Megatrends
Delegated Interfaces
Brands are embedding AI that can act across tasks continuously

What's Happening - Digital products are evolving from prompt-based tools into systems that can interpret context, recommend next steps, and complete actions on behalf of users. As AI assistants become more embedded in consumer and workplace environments, brands are packaging autonomy in more approachable forms while adding safeguards that keep people involved when decisions carry greater risk. The result is a shift from answering questions to actively reducing friction across everyday tasks.

Workshop Question - How could your brand turn a high-friction customer task into a delegated workflow rather than a self-service journey?
6.6
Score
Popularity
Activity
Freshness
Patterns
Megatrends
Distraction Blocker
Apps Introduce Intentional Friction to Curb Impulsive Access to Platforms
Trend - Brands are launching anti‑distraction apps that place deliberate barriers between users and time‑draining sites. These tools provide puzzles, timed locks, jump‑scare deterrents or multi‑step challenges before allowing access, positioned to provide friction to resist impulsive social‑media use.
Workshop Question - How might we design interventions that introduce products or services that offer benefits to consumers, even if they are perceived as negatives?
3.9
Score
Popularity
Activity
Freshness
Patterns
Megatrends
Smart Gardening
Brands Launch Smart Systems That Automate and Monitor Home Gardens
Trend - Gardening brands are releasing AI‑powered tools such as smart irrigation systems, soil and light sensors, plant‑health apps, and automated indoor or outdoor garden units that monitor conditions and adjust care. These systems use data, machine learning and custom controls to simplify gardening.
Workshop Question - How can we leverage automation and data-driven technology to simplify and enhance the user experience in our industry?
4.9
Score
Popularity
Activity
Freshness
Patterns
Megatrends
AI Microtasking
In the spirit of automating what you hate, AI services assist in small admin tasks
Trend - Though some tech enthusiasts believe AI should be used in every facet of life, some believe it's smarter to "automate what you hate." This means using AI to reduce time spent on mundane tasks. Services that focus on AI used in hyper-specific, repetitive workplace tasks lend credit to this approach.
Workshop Question - How can we leverage AI to automate mundane tasks specific to our industry, enhancing efficiency and freeing up creative resources?
4
Score
Popularity
Activity
Freshness
Patterns
Megatrends
Screen Management
Brands are releasing screen time management tools for mental and physical health
Trend - Brands are rolling out screen time management apps that combine real-time usage tracking, customizable app and website limits, timed focus sessions, and gentle behavioral prompts. The intent is to help users curb digital distractions and reclaim productivity and balance.
Workshop Question - How could your brand ensure its consumers interact with products or services in a healthy and secure manner?
4.9
Score
Popularity
Activity
Freshness
Patterns
Megatrends
Regenerative Cotton
Home textile brands increasingly design products with regenerative cotton
Trend - Brands are launching sheets, pillowcases, and duvet covers made from cotton that’s grown using regenerative agricultural practices. These methods aim to restore and enhance soil health, increase biodiversity, and capture carbon, helping mitigate climate change in the home textiles industry.
Workshop Question - How can your brand back up its sustainability claims?
4.4
Score
Popularity
Activity
Freshness
Patterns
Megatrends