Talk by Prof. Hsu-Cheng Chu / M.N.Barry M10110801

The main point I got from Prof. Chu's talk is basically about employing a “Paradigm Shift” (a radical change in personal beliefs, complex systems or organizations, replacing the former way of thinking or organizing with a radically different way of thinking or organizing) Concept in design. This means looking back into the past, live in the present, and try to predict the future. This is explained explicitly in Kevin Kelly’s famous TED talk, “The next 5000 days of the web” where he talks about the birth of the Internet, about 5000 days ago, and how it shifted from linking computers (The Net), to linking pages (The Web). And how it is about linking data (The One) currently, and how it would be about linking things (The World) in the future. How the next 5000 days of the web would be smarter, more personalized, and more ubiquitous.

Prof. Chu explained this is very important in today’s matured market and, as consumers will stick to brands they believe can move into the future. So it is not enough for companies to design products that only solve a particular problem, but to make sure they fit into the lifestyle of consumers. Also with the "experience economy" now, Companies have to render authenticity to get their consumers to perceive their offerings as authentic. This is the message in Joseph Pine's "What Consumers Want" TED talk. He further explains how Companies need to stay true to themselves by understanding their heritage: what they have done in the past because what you have done in the past limits what you can do, what you can get away with, essentially, in the future. So, its very vital to understand that past in order to remain authentic. http://www.ted.com/talks/joseph_pine_on_what_consumers_want.html