Behind the scenes with Impulses 2 speakers: an insightful follow-up interview

A Sudden Force or Desire

It’s early 2020, and the pandemic has not yet truly begun on a global scale. Founder and CEO, Thomas Latus had a vision; to build a community of digital thinkers, designer and creatives in Hamburg. With the goal to create digital products that help propel emotional bonds between users and brands. By doing away with superfluous solutions, Modulr.design aimed to focus on creating reliable emotionally connected experiences for all users. Setting up shop at Rainhaus Hamburg, he set off on making his vision a reality. The studio space itself, a bold and cozy location dedicated towards community events, workshops, and co-working. Fast forward two years, and Modulr already has various interesting case studies under its belt, not to mention its now on-going Impulses event series.

Impulses, a design conference, dedicated to showcasing various topics relevant to our various economies, for designers, brands and business of all sizes. It’s an event concept set out to bring you perspectives from industry professionals on stories, trends, and ideas from various design disciplines, sustainability, entrepreneurship and future technologies. Finally, after awaiting that last nearly two years, Rainhaus could open its doors again and make way for public events.

On Oct 7th, 2022 Modulr.design held its first Impulses event at Rainhaus. An intimate cozy gathering, with old and new friends, sharing ideas and getting back to what we all long for, human exchange.

?? Jürgen Alker was first on deck, speaking about NFTs and the metaverse. Reminded us that it (the metaverse), is not a place, it is a time. A time of transition.

?? Zamina Ahmad cover inclusive design. Our products are only as inclusive as we are. Products with value for everyone! A vision that every company should take to heart.

?? Michael Schieben showed a bit of what is possible with Field.so’s “Product Field”, a holistic product strategy tool that assists teams view various factors that affect products and their success on the market.

?? Thorsten Jonas dove a bit into his personal account witness to the ever changing environment. Everyone, especially designers, has a responsibility to think more global. Thorsten founded the Sustainable UX Network which sheds light on various topics within that space (now also with their regular podcast)

?? Leonis Moos took us on the journey through Grace accelerator and told us about the challenge of not creating new (”female only”) bubbles but rather building a safe space for everyone, especially people with different social and cultural backgrounds.

?? Alexander El-Meligi emphasized focusing on “brand experiences” via immersive experiences. With the help of gamers on his agency’s (Demodern) team, they can relate to the notion that younger users, among others, expect exciting engaging fun moments over boring 2D doom scrolling static websites.

In a nutshell, Impulses was off to a great start. Within the first attempt, Modulr’s team was able to actualize its vision for design, business, tech and humanizing events at Rainhaus Hamburg.

Fast forward to two months later. On December 8th, it was time for Impulses #2. With a booming start, Modulr has only its own shoes to fill, and kept its focus on providing high quality talks and interaction for the Hamburg community. But this time as well for the online community at large. Despite the usual technical hiccups, this second event was also live streamed via Linkedin, with a whole new roster of guest speakers.

Topics included climate policy and action, creativity within mobility, multi-brand design systems, female empowerments via reverse mentoring and the latest happening in web3.

As a bonus, we reached out to all the speakers from Impulses #2, with some follow up interview questions.

Anastasia Barner: Reverse Mentoring - Age Does Matter

What are the biggest hurdles one faces in reverse mentoring, when it comes to convincing or achieving buy-in from older generations?

That is certainly a hurdle in classical mentoring, that the experienced generation does not like to be told what to do, since there is clearly a prior agreement according to the motto: I teach, you learn. But reverse mentoring solves precisely this problem and no longer has to deal with the hurdle of having to impose your "knowledge" on the older generation. Because reverse mentoring shows right from the start: we both know that you have an advantage due to a certain age and the life experiences and also contacts that you have been able to build up over time. But you can give me this advantage, so that I don't have to make the same mistakes and we can innovate faster. At the same time, the mentee gives back his/her knowledge from their own generation, which revolves around topics such as social media, Gen Z and user / consumer behaviours, but also around topics such as finance, NFT, ETFs and concerns that a whole generation has. Reverse mentoring is about meeting at eye level, where both people want to learn and the process is voluntary. There are certainly people who find it more difficult to get involved and listen to a younger person, especially when it comes to topics that make you realize that you're getting older and don't understand the latest technologies as quickly. It's important to keep an open mind and not be judgmental.

What is the key to maintaining millennial knowledge while being relevant to the younger generation?

This is where I see the real problem. I myself belong to Generation Z, the "new interesting" generation that companies and the media are pouncing on right now. But there's another generation in between: the (also cool and hard-working) “Millennials”, who are somehow always overlooked, like the middle child. Anyone between the ages of 26 and 40 is considered this generation, and that's a hell of a lot of people. Especially with the age pyramid getting narrower, my generation is rather small compared to the previous generations. Millenials are already on the job market right now, so they're not as relevant to companies because they don't have to ask themselves: how do we recruit this generation? Instead, however, they should ask themselves: how do we retain them? Many of my friends, also mentors at FeMentor, are millenials, and are currently setting up their own businesses because they no longer want to work for corporations. And to a certain extent I can understand that. Companies need to talk to their employees much more and change things as a result. A simple questionnaire is no longer enough, change is needed. They need to look at how to be exciting for the new generation (GEN Z) and how we want to be addressed not just as future consumers but also employees, while at the same time looking into their own company structures and ask; are our current employees happy here? If not, how can we contribute to this?

What are your plans for Fementor in the next years?

Oh, what plan I “don’t”have would probably be easier to answer. (*Laughs). To be honest, FeMentor was created within 2 weeks and with no big plan. Sometimes it's much better to stay open (that's how reverse mentoring works best too), and that's how you go down paths that turn out to be positive ones. Paths that you wouldn't have known about or even noticed before. FeMentor continues to evolve; we started in DACH, are now all over Europe and have been expanding worldwide since the beginning of 2022. It's a lot of work, and we receive countless inquiries from mentees and mentors every day, who also provide inspiration and input on how FeMentor could develop itself. I'm currently running FeMentor and writing my book, which will be published next year with Haufe Verlag. There will definitely be more about what's to come in the future ;)

Kristina Gr?nboldt: Multi-brand Design Systems

How can teams prioritize their internal design systems, especially considering limited advocacy and budgets?

To prioritize design systems internally, consider these approaches:

1. Identify high-impact areas: Focus on areas that impact the user experience or business, and prioritize those for design system development.
2. Prioritize usability and accessibility: Make sure the design system is usable and accessible for all users to improve the user experience and reduce maintenance costs.
3. Collaborate with cross-functional teams: Engage with engineering, product management, and user research teams to understand their needs and align design system development efforts with them.
4. Start small and iterate: Begin with a small set of core components and gradually expand the system instead of trying to build it from scratch.
5. Communicate the benefits: Communicate the benefits of the design system to the organization, such as increased efficiency, improved user experience, and reduced maintenance costs. This will help build support and advocate for the design system internally.

What are the most critical factors in minimizing the complexity of designing themeable multi-brand design systems?

Several factors can help minimize the complexity of designing themeable multi-brand design systems:

1. Establish clear guidelines: Clearly define the guidelines for creating and using themes, including what can and cannot be customized, how themes should be created, and how to handle conflicts?between different themes.
2. Use design tokens: Design tokens represent design attributes such as colors, typography, and spacing. Using design tokens allows you to easily update the look and feel of the?design system for different brands by simply updating the values of the tokens.
3. Limit customization options: While allowing for some level of customization is essential, too many choices can make it challenging to manage the design system and lead to inconsistency. Limit?the number of customization options to those that are truly necessary.
4. Provide clear documentation: Provide clear and comprehensive documentation on how to create and use themes within the design system, including examples and best practices.
5. Keep the core system small: The core system should contain only the most essential components and patterns shared across all brands. This will help keep the system flexible and?easier to maintain.

What are the pros and cons of forming a centralized design system team about various types of design system teams?

There are several pros and cons to consider when deciding whether to form a centralized design system team:

Pros:

• Provides a higher level of focus and resources to design system development and maintenance
• Provides a consistent approach to design system development and use across the organization
• Facilitates collaboration and communication between different teams and departments

Cons:

• May be seen as a bottleneck, leading to delays in design system updates
• May struggle to stay in sync with the needs of different teams and departments
• May be more expensive to maintain due to dedicated resources and additional infrastructure

Johanna Loomis: Cross Category Inspiration

What is new and unique about Vay?

The idea is a mixture of cab and rental car service. After a so-called teledriver has steered the car to the customer remotely, the customer has to take the wheel himself and steer the car through the traffic. A car-sharing service that parks for you while giving you the benefits of a private car picks you up at a valid point close to you, without the hassle that comes with a private car. That doesn't exist in urban transportation yet. Vay is setting a new standard while creating a unique and convenient experience for our customers.

What problems does teledriving solve?

Cities should be built for people. It's the centre of living for billions of peoples and they have chosen to live in that environment. Are they perfectly human-centred because of that? No, not at all. If you would have the opportunity to change & design it differently, what would you personally change first? Reduce time spent in traffic or on looking for a parking spot, noise pollution, having to wait for the bus in the rain, more outside areas to play, to rest or meet others, bad air quality?

Teledriving is a new approach to pave the way for new concepts in order to make cities more liveable. Vay wants less pollution in cities and they can reach that with their electric vehicle fleet. They dont have downtimes because the fleet can be highly utilized around the city so they also don't take extra parking space like other car-sharing services would. Former parking spaces and roads can be repurposed for leisure and public places where people meet and spend their time, if private car ownership is replaced.

Also it can reduce your time spent in traffic, but also improve safety in urban mobility: The goal with teledriving is to contribute to a safer urban traffic by providing solutions helping to mitigate causes of fatal accidents.

Vay is aiming to launch a B2C mobility service which can be offered for a fraction of the cost of existing door-to-door mobility solutions. Vay is the first company in Europe to receive an exemption permit for test rides without a safety driver on public roads, enabled by teledriving!

What is the future of telediving?

After the first successful launch, we aim to expand our service to other cities and countries. We are excited about the interest that we receive from customers and cities all over the world.

In addition to teledriving, Vay aims to gradually introduce autonomous driving functions in the system as it is safe and permitted to do so. Until then there are many more use-cases for teledriving and we are discussing how we can improve mobility in urban areas even further. We have a valuable network and are curious to see where the way leads us.

Vicktoria Klich: The State of web3

How will the sustainability aspect of things to come be upheld across NFTs, the metaverse?

Sustainability is an important aspect to consider when it comes to the use and growth of NFTs and the metaverse.?There are several ways that the sustainability of these technologies can be upheld:

1. Energy use: One of the main concerns with NFTs and the metaverse is their energy consumption, as the process of minting and trading NFTs requires a significant amount of energy (at least that was the case by the beginning of this year). To address this issue, it is important for NFT marketplaces and metaverse platforms to implement energy-efficient protocols and use renewable energy sources to power their operations.?The criticism around the energy consumption of proof-of-work blockchains became almost obsolete after Ethereum completed "The Merge" and became an energy efficient chain.
2. Digital waste: As the metaverse and NFT marketplaces continue to grow, there is a risk of digital waste, such as abandoned or underused NFTs and virtual assets. To prevent this, it is important for platforms to implement strategies for reusing or recycling virtual assets, and to encourage the use of NFTs and virtual assets that have lasting value.
3. ReFi: Regenerative finance is a type of financial system that aims to create positive social and environmental impacts, rather than just maximizing profits. It seeks to support and finance activities that have a regenerative and restorative effect on natural systems, communities, and the economy. ReFi became quite relevant in 2022 in combination with Blockchain Technology: For example, decentralized finance (DeFi) platforms can be used to create financial instruments that support regenerative agriculture, renewable energy, and other activities that have a positive impact on the environment and communities. DeFi platforms can also be used to create alternative currencies and financial systems that are more resilient and adaptable to changing circumstances. Overall, the combination of web3 technology and regenerative finance has the potential to create a more sustainable and equitable financial system that supports the well-being of people and the planet.

How?will the metaverse impact career opportunities and organizational changes?

The metaverse is likely to require a wide range of skills, from programming and design to content creation and community management. As the metaverse "continues to grow", it is likely that new job roles will emerge that are specifically related to these virtual worlds, such as virtual event coordinators, virtual real estate agents, and metaverse content creators.?I expect that many of today's game developers will be the ones who build the metaverse, which we just think of as a purely virtual world.?However, we still have two major challenges ahead of us:

1. the hardware & the internet connection. the metaverse only makes sense when many people can use it at the same time, so the experience doesn't have to be spread over thousands of servers, because our servers can't handle the rendering for all of them.
2. the added value of preferring time in a virtual one instead of the real one.

Will small brands and companies also be able to implement Metaverse projects? ...Or will we only be seeing mostly large brands and corporations in that space?

While it is likely that large brands and corporations will have the resources and expertise to implement metaverse projects on a large scale, it is also possible for small brands and companies to participate in the metaverse. For example, small brands and companies may be able to create and sell virtual products or services in the metaverse, such as virtual event experiences or virtual real estate.?That sounds easier said than done. Smaller brands could also, for example, buy into existing projects and pull the community + IP along with them. That's usually easier than building everything yourself from scratch. And honestly, sooner or later everyone will have the chance to come up with "Web3 Strategies". The tools will be easy to access - similar to how everyone can build a website without one line of code.

Gesa Müller-Schulz: Climate neutrality until 2035

Gesa Müller-Schulz’s detailed overview of GermanZero x Modulr collaboration will be covered in a separate blog article. Look out for more news on that!

Thank you all!

Suffice to say, we are very proud and thankful to everyone involved and all the speakers for their efforts. More over, we want to thank our followers and the community at large, for all your support. Impulses is already setting the paving the way for more and more exchange of ideas, tools, and new ways of thinking. As this year comes to a close, we want to remind you all, that without you we would not be where we are, we would not be who we are. It is for all of you and for the ideas we can create together that Modulr originally set out with its vision of community building via such events and other initiatives. We hope to continue to bring you more value through our various undertakings, and we value your input and feedback.

Don't miss out on the Impulses 2 LIVE recording if you missed the event and take a look at our special offer for Rainhaus, a creative workshop space!

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#mentoring #designsystem #mobility #web3 #sustainability