Today, the field of UX is evolving faster than ever before. There’s never been a greater need for digital design — from mobile to desktop to every device in between. Add to that the tremendous need for design for emerging technologies — including the Internet of Things, wearables, genomics, and robotics — and you have all the right factors that should point to an industry on the rise. However, at the same time, the UX industry is maturing: There’s a strong trend to bring work in house at tech companies of all shapes and sizes, which has made the design landscape, at least for independent consulting agencies, tentative at best. Since the sale of Adaptive Path to Capital One almost a year ago, we’ve heard the rumors of the demise of the design firm. For our podcast topic this week, we’re going to explore the current state of affairs and the necessary re-invention of the UX design agency.

Resources:
Why Are Design Firms Stagnating?
The New Age of Innovation
Hey, UX Agencies: It’s Gonna Be Alright

In this episode of The Digital Life, we explore Google’s corporate transformation to holding company Alphabet, what that means for unleashing innovation in the company, and how that effects the firm’s chief technology rivals, Amazon and Apple. So far, Wall Street has loved the move and the company has increased its worth by $20B.

Alphabet is well-positioned to be the dominant emerging tech company of the 21st century, with fingers in the IoT, wearables, self-driving cars, robotics, and genomics. But what does that dominance mean for our data, when innovation is reliant on advertising revenue for financial fuel?

Resources
G is for Google
Google confirms Life Sciences as the first new company under the umbrella of Alphabet

In the science fiction film “Minority Report”, a PreCrime police division hunts down potential criminals and arrests them before they commit their crimes. While we are far from being able to predict crimes before they happen, we are using risk assessments — statistical tools that aim to quantify whether or not a criminal will re-offend — in the American justice system, a solution that is particularly controversial, especially when it comes to sentencing.

Using big data and statistical analysis, risk assessments promise fewer incarcerations as individuals suitable for rehabilitation are steered in that direction, and less crime as truly dangerous criminals are kept off the streets. As states struggle with the burden of increased spending on their prison systems, this potential solution appeals to policymakers on both sides of the aisle: Conservatives see fewer tax dollars spent, while liberals see a fairer system, arbitrated by big data.

But for the individuals effected, many questions remain. Can statistical data analysis accurately assess how people might behave in the future, and give us insight into whether or not criminals might re-offend? And, is it fair to decide their fate, at least in part, based on that data? This week on The Digital Life, we’ll explore the design and use of risk assessments in our criminal justice system.

Resources
Minority Report
Should Prison Sentences Be Based On Crimes That Haven’t Been Committed Yet?

This week on The Digital Life, we explore the future of food. There are few things more personal, more intimate, more important than what we put in our bodies every day. We’ll touch on a few areas at the intersections of food, science, and technology — from food as fuel where optimizing nutrition is key, to new food delivery technology like 3D printing, to the molecular gastronomy movement.

Resources
Soylent
truBrain
Impossible Foods
Foodini, the 3D food printer
The Bazaar by Jose Andres