According to experts, the newest generation of humans are the loneliest yet, but this feeling spans across age groups affecting at least one-third of the population based on existing research. If this is the state of our contemporary society, we are forced then to examine why. Why, in such a short period of time, have we begun to experience a collective breakdown in social connectivity? What barriers to social connection currently exist? And how can we address them, as a matter of priority? This report aims to look into those barriers and determine whether they are driven by fear or function.

As we become aware of these barriers, there are implications for how we can design better systems and products to address them in our increasingly digitized world. By integrating certain measures and precautions, we can design for real connection rather than against it. This will require product teams, innovators, designers, and the people commissioning their work to answer, more thoughtfully, questions around how we can make safe digital spaces and keep them regulated. Ultimately, this comes down to transforming culture. The power is within our hands, and ideas, to use product design as a catalyst for shifting the paradigm and cultivating lasting change in our social landscape.