In the Digital Design Trends Laboratory course, my students were requested to identify one digital design trend each week and post it in a Medium publication. Since they must not repeat a trend that has already been published, the publication topped 1.700 identified trends. This publication became the largest public repository of digital design trends in the Portuguese language.
By the end of the semester, I compiled a map with the most influential trends of that moment. The map was based on a graph generated from the links created by the students, from trend to trend. I published the map together with a macrotrend analysis based on social network analysis and graph statistics. After years of analyzing these maps using social network concepts and the differentialist theory, I published a study that found conservative linking patterns.
References
Van Amstel, Frederivan Amstel, F. M. C. (2021). Conservatism in Digital Trends: Findings from a differentialist analysis of influence graphs. InfoDesign – Revista Brasileira De Design Da Informação, 18(2), 37-52. https://doi.org/10.51358/id.v18i2.933
