Individual­ization

I am not like the others. After an entire era of mass production, the desire for individuality is once again gaining ground in Western society. While technologies such as 3D printing and AI are opening up new possibilities and Industry 4.0 is creating the necessary infrastructure for individual production, craftsmanship, manufacturing and DIYing are also experiencing an upswing. In addition to the new concepts and technologies, we designers must also adapt to the new requirements.

A single colorful emperor penguin surrounded by a group of young penguins in uniform brown down plumage.

What does individualization mean as a trend?

The fact that (almost) all of us can identify with such problems, at least in a metaphorical sense, shows: We live in the age of First World Problems. We have climbed to the top of Maslow's pyramid. We expect our streaming providers to pre-select media that reflects our personality and habits, and on social networks we can spend hours scrolling through new content that is perfectly tailored to us. What does this do to our expectations of the world around us? And what effect does this have on us as designers?

Meme of a woman with tears in her eyes, gazing sorrowfully into the distance. Caption: Super cool angora socks with pineapple and mango print only in cobalt and not indigo.

Why is this trend important for us?

Individualization is here to stay. At least for as long as our prosperity lasts. Because one symptom of our society's prosperity is self-realization in the form of individualization. It is not good enough to have what everyone has, to want what everyone wants and yes, even to do without what everyone does without. Individualism has many faces. Trends such as self-optimization, mindfulness, DIYing, diversity, sustainability and even accessibility are based on this. What they all have in common is the pursuit of more, the expectation of fulfilling one's own individual needs beyond the one-fits-all.

Curious? Read more now.

Here you can download the complete UXMA Trend Report 2021 free of charge and benefit from other exciting articles! Please note that the UXMA Trend Report 2021 is exclusively available in German.

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