Hi Friends! I’m back after a 2 week break from writing. I’m excited to share this week’s “Designing Near Future” edition with you. Welcome to the 21 new members that joined last week. We have grown to a family of 1720+ creatives.

Here’s a breakdown of what’s in store today

⭐ 1 Shift: The Quest To Disrupt The Smartphone Industry

⚡ 1 Tip: What Networking Can Teach You About Designing Social Platforms

💊 3 Resources: Secret Creative Resources That Pros Use

Reading time: 4 minutes

⭐ Shift

The Quest To Disrupt The Smartphone Industry

2023 saw the birth of a new era for technology. This time we are talking about multi modal general purpose devices like the Rabbit R1, Apple Vision Pro and Lightphone. All of these personal tech gadgets explore new ways of human-device interaction beyond traditional smartphones. And looking at this industry, apart from better cameras and faster processors, we haven’t seen this much UX disruption in the last 5 years. The question is, which ones will prevail? Let’s dive in.

1. The promise of AI Hardware

Over the last few months we have seen two, seemingly similar, companion devices that rely on AI technology. The Rabbit R1 and the Humane AI Pin. The Rabbit R1 is a compact AI device streamlining the smartphone experience with voice commands for tasks and app management through its Rabbit OS and LAM, directly interfacing with apps for efficient task execution and making decisions on your behalf​​​​. The Humane AI Pin, a wearable lapel pin, uses its AI, Cosmos, to project information onto the user's hand, acting as a portal to automate tasks and provide contextual information, enhancing real-world interactions with a new interface​. (The projection itself actually looks super dated, but that might be intentional to contrast it with the hi-tech smartphone world)

The key read here is that the R1 wants to streamline digital tasks into a single device, the AI Pin aims to integrate into the user's environment, providing assistance through a mixed-reality interface.

The R1 has now sold more than 60,000 units and while Humane hasn’t released sales data, they have raised over 200M in funding since existence. It is safe to say, both these devices, and their respective companies are here to stay for at least a few years until they find a product market fit, and figure out if consumers are really making use of these devices.

Will the promise of AI hardware deliver?

It’s hard to say if these new types of user interactions are here to stay. There are a couple of other players in this field, although unlikely to replace the phone. The first one is the Rewind pendant, a wearable that captures what you say and hear in the real world and then transcribes, encrypts, and stores it entirely locally on your phone. Similar to the pendant, Tab AI is another AI companion that comes in a similar format and form factor.

2. New Modalities for interaction

Arguably the biggest announcement over the last few months has been the Apple Vision Pro. Apple’s foray into Virtual Reality was met with a lot of enthusiasm with over 200,000 units sold. Unfortunately, that enthusiasm died quickly as more and more customers started returning the devices after using it for a week. The AVP is a spatial computer that blends digital content and apps into your physical space, and lets you navigate using your eyes, hands, and voice. These new ways of interaction are an exciting glimpse into what interactions could look like for head worn computing devices, although I am unsure if a 600lb device strapped to the face is an obvious replacement for a cell phone.

One more player here that I want to introduce you to- While not a full blown computer like the AVP, Frame AI glasses by Brilliant Labs is an AI powered eyewear that provides contextual real time information in augmented reality fashion. Interestingly, the device is completely open source, inviting developers to build unique experiences on top of the technology.

3. Lo-Tech wants to win

While these new shifts in personal tech pushing to take interactions to the next level, there are some devices that are gaining traction for doing the opposite. If you haven’t heard of the Light Phone, I don’t blame you as it was designed to be used as little as possible. The Light Phone was developed to offer users an alternative to traditional smartphones by providing a device that promotes mindfulness, reduces distractions, and encourages a healthier relationship with technology. This is a promising product category that, I believe, is solving a really challenging problem - addiction to our phones. Echoing this sentiment, a user shared on Reddit, "Although my digital life is a lot less active, using LPII technology has taught me to use my time in a more constructive and positive way."

Where are we headed?

This new landscape of personal tech is extremely unclear at the moment and it’s hard to see if there is a winning interaction. I say interaction because that’s what the biggest differentiator is for these devices and not the form factor. For smartphones to be relevant in the coming decade, they would need to catch up not only on AI features, which to be fair, Samsung has already made progress on, but also on more streamlined and novel user experience. While the revival of dumb phones is an interesting trend to watch out for, I doubt it will become mainstream. Parallelly moving towards contextual interfaces seems like a move in the right direction. I am watching this space closely.

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⚡ Tip

What networking can teach you about designing social platforms

While networking, the goal isn't to collect contacts like trading cards. Dunbar's number, a theory by anthropologist Robin Dunbar, suggests our brains cap at managing 150 meaningful relationships. This idea stems from the observation that our cognitive capacity limits the number of individuals with whom we can have genuine social relationships.

When designing social platforms or community spaces, whether online or physical, today’s tip is to leverage Dunbar's number to enhance user experience. Instead of pushing for larger, more impersonal groups, create smaller, more intimate communities within your platform. This approach encourages meaningful interactions and stronger bonds among members, leading to a more engaged and loyal community. Think of it as designing a series of small dinner parties rather than a massive banquet hall. By doing so, you cater to the natural limit of social connections, making each interaction more valuable and fulfilling. We did this by introducing local chapters for Young Designers India as well as limiting our in-person meetups to ~50 people. Reddit does this by having sub groups and so do most webinars with breakout rooms.

Happy designing :)

💊 Resources

3 links to boost your creativity.

• Design Methods is a library of reading recommendations for designers. This is similar to Readings.design.

• Here is an AI fabric texture generator from VMOD.

• Library of 404 error pages for inspiration

• Bonus: A 20 page Design Services Contract Template from Microvolume. Use the code DNF40 for a 40% off.