This week, we feature a guest post coauthored by Sergio Pareja (Senior Manager, Innovation Practice and Metaverse Continuum Business Group), and Sean Burke (Principal Director, Nonprofit Practice), both of Accenture, an enterprise participant in the AgeTech Collaborative™. This is Part 2 of a series focusing on the metaverse and what it means for AgeTech.
In our first post, we discussed the convergence of technologies that are enabling the metaverse. However, the metaverse is not just about technology. Join us in this installment as we unveil the pivotal role of creative design for nonprofits seeking to navigate the metaverse with purpose and innovation.
When it comes to creative design, nonprofits must prioritize experience and storytelling craft to build immersive experiences that appeal to consumers. Consumers don't care about the technology, permission spaces (i.e., what the metaverse represents), or strategy. They care about the experience or how the user would interact and the experience they have as a result. Nonprofits must have what it takes to build truly differentiated experiences that engage their target audience and stand out from the competition. The winners in this new landscape will be those who master the art of crafting new realities, embedding narrative and design ingenuity at the very core.
In the metaverse, all stakeholders
will need a role and a value exchange.
While the metaverse represents incredible new opportunities for brands and big tech, there is a cultural counter-trend amongst consumers that nonprofits must take into account. People are becoming more and more disillusioned with the world around them. There's a lack of trust in large companies and governments, and there is a backlash against the social manipulation and the lack of transparency in current technologies. Individuals are seeking refuge from the noise of a complex world, pushing back against manipulative technologies and opaque intentions. Herein lies the chance for nonprofits – given their position in the broader societal and business landscape – to rebuild trust, tending to human needs with the utmost sensitivity and authenticity.
In the metaverse, all stakeholders will need a role and a value exchange. Nonprofits must identify their value proposition and the role they play in the metaverse ecosystem. Thay may manifest as a user who is merely out for an education, clearly navigating easily findable material; or as someone with desires to get more involved directly interacting with an advocate to help them determine necessary steps to begin that process. It is essential to understand the needs of their target audience and how their solutions can provide value to them. Nonprofits must also be open to new forms of value exchange that may emerge in the metaverse, ensuring a fluid adaptability that marks the successful.
Ultimately, we must recognize that the metaverse is a canvas, a community, and an engine for new forms of value. Nonprofits should take advantage of this new platform early in its inception to drive design principles and best practices and position themselves as leaders in all things metaverse. They must prioritize creative design and align it with the needs of their target audience. We are excited to see nonprofits taking the lead in this space and believe it provides an immense opportunity to deliver next-generation stories that inspire action.
Look for our final blog in this series as we explore how the metaverse intersects with AgeTech specifically as we explore applications and other considerations.
You can find Part 1 in the series here.