Modern_Economics

Tesco invited me to give a talk on Wednesday night at a UX event they were running. I took the opportunity to talk on ‘The False Profit Paradox’ and using Design to reconcile the pursuit of profit and economic growth with a more human and sustainable future. It did feel a little odd going on last, with the audience sipping their beers and eating pizza, to talk about irreversible climate change and the myth of eternal economic growth - but it also felt important.

01	Greta Thunberg to world leaders I started my talk with a short excerpt from Greta Thunberg’s righteous address to the UN. In it she chides world leaders (and everyone of our generation) by saying “We are in the beginning of a mass extinction and all you can talk about is money and fairy tales of eternal economic growth. How dare you!“. It was probably the perfect start to my talk, but a startling incongruity with the setting and the timing of the talk, straight after pizza and beer.  youtube.com
02	How to redesign GDP for the 21st century One of my points on Wednesday is that the economic system is set up to reward short-term focus and you can see why people believe in the fairy tale of eternal economic growth. One contributory factor is that our primary measure of economic health is deeply flawed. This article from Quartz highlight one of those flaws - GDP doesn’t capture the value of digital goods to the economy or the value of anything that has zero price. qz.com
03	Lorenzo Fioramonti interview: the man who would rid the world of GDP This article on The Conversation goes deeper on some of the problems and points out that “the Keynesian economists who adopted GDP growth as a policy target after the war ignored Keynes’ own critique that monetary values cannot truly measure well-being.”  theconversation.com
04	Scotish national indicators of performance There are various examples of alternatives. Scotland has a dashboard featuring 81 national indicators of progress, covering topics such as Children & Young People, Communities, Culture, Economics and the Environment. Fioramonti (interviewed in the Conversation article above) cites it as best practice: nationalperformance.gov.scot
05	New Zealand Ditches GDP For Happiness And Wellbeing And, of course, there was a lot of coverage earlier in the year when New Zealand ditched GDP for ‘happiness and wellbeing’ (although the detail is more nuanced than the headlines perhaps suggest).forbes.com
06	What is the circular economy At Modern Human, we believe that economic growth need not come at the expense of the environment, employees, customers or a sustainable human future. We think that there are opportunities to develop a non-exploitative economy; a circular economy based on the principles of designing out waste and pollution, keeping products and materials in use, and regenerating natural systems. The Ellen MacArthur foundation have excellent resources on the Circular Economy, so if you’re interested in creating a better future that is also economically sustainable, their resources are a great place to start.ellenmacarthurfoundation.org

Studio notes

With our September newsletter being absent there’s even more to update you with than normal. Whilst the leaves were turning golden, the nights drawing in and temperatures dropping we were busy in the studio.

We put the finishing touches to the redesign of a Tech firms workplace. Their large IT group asked us to work with them to create an environment perfect for their Agile ways of working. Our ethnography with them unearthed valuable insight into Agile work practices and the needs, values and motivations of their employees. In response we created a pattern language for Agile workplaces.

We’ve also been working with a UK Supermarket on Service Design for online fulfilment. It’s involved being in store at the crack of dawn to shadow pickers, packers and drivers, so that we can really understand how an online order becomes a bag of groceries at your door. 

Just this week our design researchers have been visiting people’s homes to uncover families’ use of streaming services and look for opportunities to enhance the experience for the whole family. That work will continue through the long dark nights of November.

With all of this work on, it’s inevitable that the studio would need to grow. In October, we added a new member to the team. Erica joined us after freelancing in London in Research, Insight and Strategy roles. We know we’ll be able to put her fascination with socio-cultural drivers of behaviour to good use on upcoming research, design and strategy projects. We’re still looking for a second experienced design researcher to join the team. Get us your CV this weekend if you want to be considered, because we’ll be interviewing next week.

And at the end of October we moved to a more spacious studio just minutes away from our previous Kirby Street abode. We’re now to be found in the palatial surroundings of 24 Greville Street. We’re still minutes away from some of best coffee shops and street food in London though.

We hope you’re enjoying Modernity. Please share it with your friends and colleagues and make sure you sign up to avoid missing the next one. Remember to connect with us too. You can find us on LinkedIn and Twitter.