Exploring Future-Making Design for Digital Nomads

Design Futures + Digital Nomads + Scenario Development + Short Film Prototype

In today's rapidly changing world, it has become essential to conceptualize and prepare for possible futures to stay ahead in the game. According to Fry, T. (2009), "Everything designed goes on designing", emphasizing that design is not merely about creating a final product, but rather involves considering the ongoing impact and destiny of the object or thing being designed. As a directional practice, design brings into being objects and things that have a plural destiny, with a potential for either harm or harmlessness, and remain in process within a specific ecological context. Designers, therefore, play a crucial role in anticipating and crafting plausible futures that align with our aspirations, values, needs and making meaning in the world.

Image Credit @Unsplash*

Design fiction and future making are two concepts that have gained prominence in recent years as a way to explore and speculate about possible futures. Other methods and tools such as design anthropology, sustainable futures, weak signals, prototyping and policy making, scenario planning, spotting and forecasting share some common goals and approaches. These approaches seek to engage people in thinking about the future in new and creative ways, and to help them imagine and shape possible futures that reflect their values and interests. They also involve the use of creative techniques to explore and communicate complex ideas, and the ability to envision and communicate a range of possible outcomes. Several academic scholars have contributed to the development of design anthropological futures. For example, Elizabeth Sanders and Pieter Jan Stappers have argued that design should be focused on creating more meaningful and sustainable experiences, rather than just creating products. They have also advocated for a more participatory and user-centered approach to design, which involves involving users in the design process.

This essay is about the refinement and reflection process of the group assessment, which involved creating a video around the theme of "Crossing borders through creativity/reimagining national borders". This assessment was indeed a good attempt to get me and my team of design innovators to be involved in a participatory design process and understand the importance of design anthropology. The aim of this essay is to deconstruct, interrogate and review the scenario, and reflect on the challenges and opportunities encountered during the process. The group assessment required us to explore the work of others in context to speculative design and research techniques for designing futures. The task was to generate design concepts relevant to a range of contexts and stakeholders, in this essay “Digital Nomads” and use a range of presentation techniques such as storyboarding, new media and technologies and present these future scenarios in a manner which is understandable to non-designer audience. The group identifies “Digital nomads”- individuals who leverage technology to work remotely, allowing them to be location-independent while still earning a living. They typically rely on digital communication tools and platforms to collaborate with colleagues, clients, and customers, and often travel frequently or live in different locations for extended periods of time; - as a weak signal for the potential future trends to create scenarios and prototype by making a Lo-fi video. Further the essay will discuss different stages of the scenario creation, including ideation, research, storyboarding, and filming, and critically analyze the choices and decisions made by the group.

Scenario Concept Presentation

During the COVID-19 pandemic, remote work and virtual collaboration have become widespread, leading to a potential shift towards remote life. This trend has prompted companies to extend remote work policies and consider hybrid workforce models. Makimoto and Manners predicted this shift towards a globalized world in their 1997 manifesto "Digital Nomads" and emphasized the need for companies to adapt to compete in the virtual global marketplace. More than 20 years later, this prediction has become a reality for many individuals, either by choice or necessity. Remote working life is trending and an increasing number of people adapting to this lifestyle might turn out to be a good thing or bad thing too. Considering both the possibilities of bad and good consequences, we as a group agreed to consider this lifestyle and community of “digital nomads” as a weak signal. Meaning, considering them to be early indicators of potential future trends that are not yet widely recognized.

User research with digital nomads has highlighted several pain points or problems that they face. These include issues related to money and insurance, fear of stability due to the lack of a fixed location, the challenge of investing and citizenship. Digital nomads often struggle to network and make friends, as well as maintaining relationships while constantly on the move. They may experience FOMO (fear of missing out) on events and experiences due to their nomadic lifestyle. Taxation can also be complicated, as they may have to pay taxes in their resident country while being physically present in another location. Further to conduct in-depth research about this group we stumbled upon articles suggesting the possible designs, innovations, policies and theories of the potential future. Several countries, such as Estonia, Georgia, Bermuda, and Barbados, have implemented "digital nomad visas" that enable remote workers to stay for extended periods (Hermann & Paris, 2020). These visas allow location-independent workers to work or manage their company from the country without regard for the company's location or time zone, and they provide residency for up to one year. Another finding from the research is that Plumia, an internet country, was created during a hackathon organized by Safety Wing, an insurance company for digital nomads and remote working teams. The company's mission is to remove geographical borders as a barrier to equal opportunities and freedom (Cook, n.d.).

This is the storyline we came up with after conducting research and engaging in additional ideation. A news telecast reports shocking footage of Dong Lee, a wanted criminal using the nomad visa. When asked about how he ended up in the situation, Dong talks about his early life and how he became fascinated by the idea of a Digital Nomad visa. Despite giving up his citizenship, he gets the visa implanted in his hand, allowing him to travel freely across the world. As a quantum computing specialist, Dong Lee uses the visa to connect with friends and family back home and conduct hologram-enabled zoom calls. However, a terrorist attack in London is traced back to a user of the nomad visa, leading to all countries banning the visa. Dong argues that nomads are not terrorists and the attack is not their doing. He shares his dream where the scenery on his travels blended with the content of his work, reflecting his comfort with this kind of life. The interview ends with Dong Lee's advocacy for the rights of nomads and a plea to clear their name.

Video made by my team_@loughboroughUniversityLondon*

Critical reflection

Digital nomads face unique challenges related to work-life balance, social isolation, and identity management, which require careful attention and support (Long et al., 2020). Identity management, in particular, emerges as a major future issue for digital nomads. However, this issue is not limited to the digital nomad community. Identity crisis and management is a prevalent issue in our societies, be it individual or community identity issues. Communities, such as Muslims, have been branded with an unfair identity across the globe due to the actions of a few individuals. This problem has been highlighted in popular culture, such as the Indian comedy film "Dharam Sankat Mein" (2015). Despite being a constant issue, identity management remains an overlooked area of concern for digital nomads. The team acknowledged that the issue of identity management is persistent and can be related to the digital nomad concept we were developing. Another concern identified was regarding insurance coverage.

Using literature to predict a possible future for this stakeholder we came up with multiple scenarios that can act as a solution to these two problems. We created a virtual city/ organization called “Nomad Planet” that allows nomads to freely travel and look after taxation and insurance with various technological benefits. This led us to create a futuristic artifact (The term "future artifact" is used to describe an object or technology that does not yet exist but is anticipated to be created in the future) which shows the interaction of the user with it in the video to access the benefits of the Nomad Planet. Other developments in the future we all agreed to were bio implants [Bio implants, also known as biomedical implants, are devices or tissues that are implanted into the body for various medical purposes, such as drug delivery, tissue regeneration, or monitoring of physiological parameters. They are designed to interact with biological systems, and can be made from various materials, such as metals, polymers, ceramics, or biological tissues (Lacour et al., 2010)]. So we chose biopants as the artifacts. We faced a little difficulty to illustrate the implantation process in the video. This is the area where we could have worked upon mixed media and explored more with adding effects, templates and models by using the editing softwares (Adobe premiere pro, Adobe after effects, Psd, Runway and many more) and 3d modeling applications.

The persona was developed using design thinking and future mundane theory, which seeks to identify subtle changes that shape our everyday lives and imagine designs that fit within social, cultural, and political contexts. We also incorporated design fiction and experimental realism to explore environmental scenarios for the future, drawing inspiration from science fiction movies and series like "Travelers" and "The 100". During brainstorming, we discovered that ideating the environment first and creating a conceptual artifact from it led to a more well-reasoned outcome (Refer Figure.1. Initial concept development and Research ; Figure.2. Storyboard ; and Figure. 3. Script, look board and the frame sketches ). Time management was also crucial to keeping the team on track and sticking to the brief. By referencing representation theory and critical future theory, we developed a storyboard, footage mood board, and look board. We used the rule of thirds to plan the script and sketches for the frames, which led to the creation of our lo-fi prototype and final video. Although successful, we could have developed a more futuristic environment and added more detailed scenarios, such as futuristic fashion, new telecast approaches, and CCTV concepts. We illustrated these ideas in a manner consistent with present-day scenarios.

Conclusion

In conclusion, design is a future-making practice that plays a crucial role in anticipating and crafting plausible futures. Designers must continue to embrace and refine these approaches to contribute to a better world. The scenario presented in this essay around "Digital Nomads" is a perfect example of how design can be used to identify and develop future trends. User-centered design research can be used to identify pain points or problems that a particular community faces, and to design solutions to address those issues. Finally, design can be used to create more meaningful and sustainable experiences, rather than just products, and involve users in the design process, making it a more participatory and inclusive practice. Overall, design can be a powerful tool for shaping the future, and it is essential that we continue to explore and innovate in this field to create a more equitable and sustainable world.

Feel free to share your thoughts or questions in the comments below!