Chloé de Ruffray - What is Trend Research?

detect broad patterns rather than to deliver specific answers; and to invent something new by combining elements nobody else thought to pair.”4

assess each trend against three dimensions—Innovation Target, Priority, and Response—positioning each trend on the CTR accordingly

1. Foresight has a trend problem — today’s trend hunting is largely a by-product of a linear, mechanistic, and extractive system that hopes to profit off of the “next big thing,” and is also mired in a hyper-masculine perspective of what’s important or what should be examined.


2. Foresight has a time problem — “This or that will happen in the next 1, 3,

evaluating the trend against your local context will allow you to drill deeper into the nature of the opportunities it offers. And that means taking a close look at how the basic needs, drivers of change, and innovations are coming together to create new expectations in that locality.