Storyblok (Credit image/Pixabay/ Enrique Meseguer)Storyblok has announced the results of a design challenge conducted in partnership with UC Berkeley’s Jacobs Institute for Design Innovation. Students and alumni with backgrounds in areas like human-computer interaction, cognitive science, and mechanical engineering were asked to develop concepts imagining what the future of websites and digital content will look like.

Thirty participants were organised into five teams for a two-day design sprint. The event was guided by Jacobs design instructors Kuan-Ju Wu and Chris Myers. The results are available under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license. They envision a world where content is more personalised and inclusive.

Key highlights

The following awards were given to the projects by a group of judges during the final presentation event:

  • Web Decentralisation (Community Choice and Best Technical Concept). A decentralised system of content blocks inspired by Minecraft that anyone can use to collaborate on projects. Instead of billions of products designed by thousands of people, billions of people can work together to design thousands of products.
  • Thought-to-Thought (Best Inclusive Focus). A neural interface that enables people to communicate thoughts and ideas without having to verbally explain. Thoughts could be stored and retrieved for special cases, such as dementia.
  • Finding Heart in Woven Cities (Best Social Impact). Community robots that roam around cities and offer personalised content while improving community engagement and personal connections between people.
  • Interspace (Most Actionable) – A wristband that displays a personalized holographic space that can be shared with others (concept video).
  • Brain Computer Interfaces (Best Blue Sky). A system that uses brain signals to create content and interact with digital experiences.

What the experts say

In this design challenge, we embarked on a journey to explore what the future holds for digital content and our relationship with it. We started by having the students delve into their personal experiences. They create speculative headlines that depicted a world filled with progress or crisis. We then conducted background research to understand the signals and drivers that could lead to that future.

“As we visualised future scenarios through mood boards and vignettes, we were filled with a sense of purpose. A desire to create a better world for ourselves and future generations. I am grateful for the opportunity to work with Storyblok and the students. Furthermore, excited about the next steps of our vision,” said Kuan-Ju Wu, Design Instructor at Jacobs Institute for Design Innovation.

“As design educators, we strive to help students master not only techniques but also ways of thinking. This will give them the ability to design for problems that are yet to emerge. Storyblok’s design challenge provided the opportunity to think in expansive timelines and reflect on the synergy between technology and society.

“I was moved by the results, which highlighted the integration of advanced technology in ways that benefit society on a personal and community level,” said Chris Myers, Design Instructor at the Jacobs Institute for Design Innovation.

(Credit image/LinikedIn/Dominik Angerer)
Dominik Angerer, CEO & Co-Founder at Storyblok

Digital content is always evolving. Storyblok was built to be a future-proof CMS that’s ready for whatever the future may bring. So we thought it would be interesting to partner with UC Berkeley to get an early look at the future of digital content.

“We’re so impressed by the passion and thoughtfulness that the participants put into this design challenge. We support their vision of more personalised and inclusive content. We look forward to the time when these concepts become a reality,” said Dominik Angerer, Co-Founder and CEO of Storyblok.

Enterprise Times: What this means for business.

This was a really interesting and innovative project that compliments Storyblok’s ethos. Exciting concepts developed include decentralized content blocks, neural interfaces, community robots, and holographic wristbands. Storyblok supports enabling developers to build anything, publish everywhere and integrate with any service or technology.

It’s, therefore, a sensible attempt to put a finger on the pulse of that change in the future. Another step was to partner with an eminent player in the digital design field – UC Berkeley’s Jacobs Institute for Design Innovation.

Content remains king. Content has now evolved into the daily user experiences in a range channels, applications and applications. Design is intrinsically part of content product development. As a result, design and technological innovation as integrally linked. Innovation opens possibilities and extends the reach of design, while design links new technologies with human experiences and ensures that innovation truly benefits people and communities.

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