We held an Instagram Q&A focused on Make→Shift: OMNIBILITY. Didn't catch it? Read this nifty excerpt or check out our IGTV section for the full interview.  

Are you eager to put OMNIBILITY ideas into practice? Curious about our internal research process? Interested in leveraging your current resources to have maximal impact? We thought that might be the case. To help answer your questions about Make→Shift: OMNIBILITY, Senior Trend Analyst, Erick Smet, hosted an Instagram Q&A. Didn’t catch it? Check out our IGTV or take a peek at the excerpt featured below. 

If you’re not in a position of power/influence, how can you implement some of these ideas at your company?

Erick: Whether you’re an intern or the CEO, it's a shared responsibility to make products, services and business models more inclusive and more accessible. So with that in mind, you can take tiny steps to create that positive impact. Think of reaching out to your copywriting team, asking them whether or not you have an inclusivity and accessibility chapter within the style guide of your organization...

Did you consult members of the disabled community for this latest report?

Erick: Yes, definitely. At TW we always try to practice what we preach. So initially the idea was to have people with experience of disabilities proofread the issue once it was done. But instead, as we went on, we felt like it was a better idea to work on the accessibility chapter within our style guide so that moving forward all of our copy is inclusive and also accessible...

Do you pick a theme first and then look for trends or the other way around?

Erick: At TW, we start by looking at innovations because those are the initial signs that show consumer expectations are changing. So in the case of OMNIBILITY, our team picked up on various companies, products and services that are trying to make society more accessible. Once we spot that initial hunch, we conduct research – looking for stats to see if it’s impacting society on a global scale. If that is the case, we put it on our content calendar and start conducting research more extensively moving forward...

Is it possible to build a culture based on emotional design, in countries which cultures are a lot conservative?

Erick: If you live in (or if your company is situated in) a country that is maybe less progressive in terms of accessibility and inclusivity, you could argue that there is even more to win – more opportunities and fewer competitors. Identify countries that are OMNIBILITY forerunners and see what you can learn from them. There might be easy business ideas you can apply to your own local area...

Do you think it’s easier for larger or smaller companies to make these proposed changes to their businesses?

Erick: As a small business, it's easy to understate your positive impact. I think every business (large and small) has a part to play in the shift towards OMNIBILITY. I also believe that with power comes responsibility. So as your business grows, the need to engage increases because you have more funds, more time and more influence to actually create positive change...

Check out our IGTV to see the full interview.