Future Friendly

It is time to move towards a friendlier future. We live in a world that’s exploding with technological innovation and the rapid pace of change is only accelerating. We’re at the forefront of a new revolution in which we are unprepared for. Before we can take advantage of all the exciting possibilities technology has to offer, we must first change the way we think.

Enter the Future Friendly Manifesto. In order to become more future-friendly, we must:

1. Acknowledge and embrace unpredictability.
2. Think and behave in a future-friendly way.
3. Help others do the same.

I want to expound on what I think it means to be future-friendly and why you need to care.

Provide Real Worth

People’s capacity for bullshit is rapidly diminishing. As technology becomes more ubiquitous, people are getting used to the idea of interacting solely with things they want to interact with whenever they damn well please.

For companies and creators who have long enjoyed force-feeding their own flavor of bullshit to the masses, this is a very scary thing. However, this doesn’t need to be the case. The opportunity exists for creators to reach people, however it can’t be in the insincere methods of the past. Instead, we must deliver real worth.

Content Like Water

In order to provide real worth, we must deliver strong, purposeful content to people wherever they may be. Currently, this includes a plethora of mobile devices, tablets, e-readers and more, but this is just the beginning.

Instead of chasing down the latest and greatest device of the month, focus your efforts on creating worthwhile content that is properly structured to go anywhere. Because it will be going everywhere.

“We need to build smarter content, not smarter containers.” — Stephanie Rieger

Beyond the Desktop

One small step for man. One giant step in the right direction. I’m in the web world and I think it’s amazing that 50% of web designers still don’t consider mobile. I hate to break it to you, but people aren’t lining up around the block to get the latest Dell tower. It’s time to acknowledge the diversity of connected devices and prepare for even more diversity. We don’t know what the future holds, but we need to be ready. Take that first step in the right direction and begin designing for diversity.

Pragmatic Idealism

No one has the answers. In fact, we all have a hell of a lot more questions. We know that we can’t predict the future and that things can’t change overnight. But we can move in a more future-friendly direction. And that’s going to take all of us. It’s going to require rethinking how we work, the tools we use and most importantly the things that we make. Let’s advocate for better tools: CMSes, browsers, design tools and better interplay between devices.

Into the Great Wide Open

Let’s embrace the unpredictability of the future. Let’s create meaningful content for people and encourage others to do the same. The future is ours to make —friendly.

Thank you

I had the surreal opportunity to spend several days tucked away in a remote house outside of Nashville with a group of amazing people. It’s one thing to get to meet your heroes. It’s another to collaborate with them. I want to thank my fellow mobinauts that have forever changed the way I think:

• Josh Clark
• Luke Wroblewski
• Lyza Danger Gardner
• Jason Grigsby
• Scott Jehl
• Scott Jenson
• Jeremy Keith
• Bryan Rieger
• Stephanie Rieger