In today’s multichannel, multi-device world, the stuff of science fiction is fast-becoming fact. The boundary between real and virtual worlds is a blur. Parallel universes exist, along with multiple versions of our own identities. And we can be somewhere and then everywhere in a single click or swipe. 

No longer fantasy, all of this and more is close to being our mainstream reality – as is the dizzying, confusing landscape which we must all now ­navigate in the absence of anyone with the opportunity, time, or headspace to stop for a moment and draw us all a map. 

So for those of us tasked with designing for the future in the context of a rapidly evolving present, how should we react? For designers, I believe, there is now a need to be led by three principles: acceptance, fluidity, and coherence. And I believe that by embracing these three things, we will unlock considerable opportunity.