Non-Obvious summary

Finding non-obvious trends isn't easy. It's kind of like finding a needle in a haystack, which is why the method for identifying trends is called the haystack method.

The first step in the haystack method is gathering. Gathering is about collecting stories, information and ideas from various fields or markets around you.

It takes a lot of work to be a trend curator. Don't expect it to be easy.

But if you want to be the best curator you can be, you’ll need a few essential attributes.

It's absolutely vital to be curious, fickle and observant if you want to be a trend curator. But these aren't the only traits you'll need.

Trend curators also have to be thoughtful. Thoughtfulness is about reviewing all the material you've collected, then reflecting on it.

Your work isn't over when you learn how to curate. Identifying trends isn't very meaningful if you don't know how to make use of them!

It’s here that intersectional thinking becomes a helpful tool. Intersectional thinking means looking for similarities between trends, and the points where different trends intersect.

We've covered the theory, so let's look a few trends we can expect to see in the year ahead.

Many of the trends we'll see in 2015 will relate to ways customers interact with companies and their products. These days, people's expectations of customer service are changing. Undoubtedly, companies have to take note.

A number of upcoming trends relate to the shifting relationship between finding products and buying them.

The first trend in this area is called reversible retail. In the past, businesses may have had an online shop, but they sold most of their products at their physical stores.

Finally, let's look at some trends concerning changes in how we consume what we buy.

Microconsumption is a particularly interesting trend. Traditionally, if you wanted to buy something, you had to buy a complete version of it, produced by a company. So when you wanted to see a new movie, you went to the cinema and paid the full price.