IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2013 - 12

The 2013 IIDA Industry Roundtable:
Leveraging Volatility
Design-world leaders gathered at IIDA headquarters to discuss professional
challenges—and strategize ways to manage them.

Over three days last January, some 30 notable members
of the A&D community—interior designers, manufacturing
executives, and IIDA board members and representatives—
convened at the Merchandise Mart in Chicago for the
16th annual Industry Roundtable. This year’s topic was
how to manage volatility, both economic and cultural.
As evidenced by the weekend’s discussions, volatility
is the dominant force impacting our profession (and our
clients). It’s also the primary instigator behind challenges
ranging from accelerated project-delivery timelines and
information overload to the commodification of design—
issues that demand a proactive response.
The key to leveraging volatility is to spin it as a positive.
Volatility presents as many opportunities as challenges
if we hone the skills that it demands of us: flexibility, agility,
adaptability, and foresight. Getting ahead requires thinking
ahead. Herewith, four ways to do so:
1. Pursue growth areas: Protection and detection

As wireless technology liberates us from physical
infrastructure, it constrains us in other ways. With mobility
comes safety concerns—namely, the need to protect our
data. As more companies adopt a “bring your own device”
policy, malware can migrate from personal portable
electronics to the office network. Importing contacts from
one application into another is a massive security issue
as well. And server farms and data-storage facilities (what
we know collectively as “the cloud”) need to be safeguarded
from heat, water, dust, and other antagonists.

Design challenges will emanate from these issues—and
so will employment. The majority of new jobs in 2013 will
be in three areas: protection, detection, and disruption.
Our health-care industry is slowly migrating to a preventative
model focused on early disease detection, for instance,
and companies are increasingly making real-estate and
investment decisions based on climate in the wake of natural
disasters like Hurricane Sandy. We need to consider security
in the broader sense, in terms of finances, risk management,
protecting our IT, and more.
2. design for PeoPle on the move

Two facts that demonstrate the increasingly untethered
nature of today’s employee: The mobile workforce will rise
to 1.3 billion by 2015, while the number of coworking facilities
doubled last year and is expected to continue growing
apace. This burgeoning population of free-range workers
represents an expanding and underserved market. Designers
and manufacturers need to leverage their talents to create
furnishings and offices that better support contemporary
work styles; otherwise, people will choose to work elsewhere.
We have an obligation—but also an opportunity—to reshape
how work happens. Some characteristics to consider:

Volatility presents as many opportunities as challenges if we hone the skills
that it demands of us: flexibility, agility, adaptability, and foresight.
12



Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2013

IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2013
IIDA Post-It initiative
Contents
Contributors
From IIDA
Behind the Issue
IIDA News
Design Dialogue
The Showroom of the Future
Working It
Hire Resolution
Get Your Game On
Design Decoded
Behind the Design
Viewpoints
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2013 - IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2013
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2013 - Cover2
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2013 - IIDA Post-It initiative
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2013 - 2
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2013 - Contents
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2013 - 4
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2013 - 5
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2013 - Contributors
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2013 - 7
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2013 - From IIDA
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2013 - 9
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2013 - Behind the Issue
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2013 - 11
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2013 - IIDA News
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2013 - 13
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2013 - 14
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2013 - 15
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2013 - 16
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2013 - 17
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2013 - Design Dialogue
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2013 - 19
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2013 - 20
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2013 - 21
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2013 - 22
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2013 - 23
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2013 - The Showroom of the Future
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2013 - 25
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2013 - 26
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2013 - 27
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2013 - Working It
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2013 - 29
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2013 - 30
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2013 - 31
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2013 - 32
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2013 - 33
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2013 - 34
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2013 - 35
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2013 - 36
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2013 - 37
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2013 - 38
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2013 - 39
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2013 - Hire Resolution
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2013 - 41
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2013 - 42
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2013 - 43
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2013 - 44
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2013 - 45
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2013 - Get Your Game On
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2013 - 47
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2013 - 48
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2013 - 49
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2013 - 50
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2013 - 51
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2013 - Design Decoded
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2013 - 53
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2013 - 54
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2013 - Behind the Design
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2013 - Viewpoints
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2013 - Cover3
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2013 - Cover4
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