The Human Side of Tech Disruption

Modes are the Seismographs of Market Moves

AI is a Mode Amplifier

• AI enables mode amplification and mode detection, rather than just personalisation or efficiency.

• AI agents (coming very soon) will serve as context-aware identity tools.

• Modes are different value hierarchies, decision-making processes, and expressions of identity within the same person.

• Consumers are now fluid, situational selves — moving through various modes rather than being defined by demographics. This is consumorphosis.

2. Modes Are Not Just Contexts

• Modes reflect psychological states and shifting value systems.

• That value is contextual and relational, shaped by time, energy, and intention, not just task or location. This is ‘relevance over loyalty’ - a decisive shift for experience strategy.

3. Time as Value

• Time is a trinity of value types (these are not ranked hierarchically).

• Time Saved (Efficiency Mode)

• Time Well Spent (Explorer Mode)

• Time Well Invested (Aspirational Mode)

4. Brands need to be present in the right moment, not every moment.

5. Modes are Industry-Wide Transformations

• From retail, banking, healthcare, to transport and more, modes cross our eco-system, rippling and cascading.

4. Modes Are Behavioural Signals, Not Personas

• Reject demographic segmentation. Instead, design for mode transitions and moment-based relevance.

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Technological Convergence Fragments Identity and Relevance

The smartphone didn't just give us better phones.

It shattered the boundaries between our professional, personal, and social selves.

Before 2007, identities were geographically separated. Work happened in the office. Social interaction occurred at specific locations. Shopping needed trips.

Now? Your phone enables instant identity switching. You can be a focused professional (email mode), a caring parent (family chat mode), and a savvy shopper (price comparison mode) all within three minutes.

This fragmentation accelerates every time technologies converge:

Convergence Example

It’s Uber's Perfect Storm. GPS tracking + smartphone ubiquity + digital payments + gig economy platforms created more than a taxi app. They developed a new transportation mode that combines convenience, cost transparency, and control.

The ripple effects transformed not just transportation but urban planning, car ownership, and perhaps even dating (easier to meet anywhere when transport is guaranteed).

Convergence Pattern Recognition

Steel + engines + rubber + oil = automotive revolution

Touchscreens + processors + batteries + wireless networks = mobile revolution

AI + automation + sensors + data = our current convergence wave

Each convergence doesn't just create new products. It transforms opportunities. And each time, creates new behavioural modes.

These aren't preference changes but identity mutations triggered by technological convergence.

Consumer modes aren't behavioural quirks.

They're the seismographs of technological disruption.

Welcome to the age of consumer modes, where understanding behavioural states matters more than knowing someone's age, income, or location.

What Consumer Modes Mean

Here's what many get wrong about modes.

They think modes are just different contexts—like "work mode" versus "weekend mode."

But real consumer modes represent fundamentally different value hierarchies, decision-making processes, and identity expressions within the same person.

Recent research identified four types of modes that create completely different commercial relationships:

Efficiency Seeker Mode: Time scarcity drives every decision. Amazon's one-click ordering dominates here because cognitive load equals friction. These customers pay premiums to avoid thinking.

Explorer Mode: Discovery and novelty create value. Spotify's algorithmic curation succeeds by balancing familiar comfort with calculated surprise. These customers invest time for identity expansion.

Protective Mode: Security and control override convenience. Apple's privacy positioning wins because trust trumps features. These customers sacrifice functionality for peace of mind.

Aspirational Mode: Identity projection drives choices. Nike's "Just Do It" campaigns work because the product becomes a tool for self-expression. These customers buy who they want to become.

The same person cycles through all four modes in a single day. Your morning coffee purchase (efficiency mode) differs fundamentally from your evening entertainment choice (explorer mode) or your weekend workout gear (aspirational mode).

Why Netflix Killed Blockbuster: A Mode Case Study

Everyone thinks Netflix won because of convenience or technology.

Wrong.

Netflix understood that entertainment consumption operates in different modes, while Blockbuster believed in only one. Here's the real story:

Blockbuster's Fatal Assumption: They assumed customers were always in "selection mode". Someone willing to travel, browse, and make deliberate choices about entertainment.

Netflix's Mode Recognition: They sussed that most entertainment consumption happens in "convenience mode" (I want something good now) and "discovery mode" (surprise me with something I'll love).

Netflix's recommendation algorithm doesn't just suggest content, it detects which mode you're in based on time of day, device, and previous behaviour patterns. Sunday morning, Netflix serves different psychological needs than Tuesday night Netflix.

The lesson? Blockbuster optimised for transactions. Netflix optimises for modes.

The Time Currency Revolution

Here's the most counterintuitive insight about modes: they're all different ways of optimising time value.

Most business strategy still treats time as a constraint to overcome. That's backwards. Time has become the primary currency that people spend across different modes.

Time Saved (Efficiency Mode): Streamline friction, eliminate steps, predict needs.

example —> Amazon's anticipatory shipping saves time by moving products closer before you order them.

Time Well Spent (Explorer Mode): Create experiences worth the attention investment

example —> Spotify's Discover Weekly isn't just recommendations—it's curated exploration that feels valuable regardless of whether you like every song.

Time Well Invested (Aspirational Mode): Enable progress toward desired identity

example —> Peloton doesn't sell exercise equipment—they sell time investments that compound into fitness identity.

Winning with modes means understanding this exchange. Competing for customer loyalty is the byproduct of competing for optimal time value allocation in moments of relevance.

Mode Detection: The New Competitive Advantage

Traditional customer data tells you who someone is. Mode detection tells you who they're being right now.

I've seen behavioural signals working:

Context Signals: Location, time of day, device type, app usage patterns Energy Signals: Response speed, interaction depth, task completion rates

Social Signals: Alone versus group contexts, communication patterns Progression Signals: Goal advancement, milestone proximity, achievement states

The most sophisticated systems combine these signals to predict mode transitions. They know when someone shifts from "efficient professional" to "explorative learner" based on micro-behavioural changes.

Let’s take an example:

Banking Mode Detection

• Morning mobile check-ins (efficiency mode) get streamlined account summaries.

• Evening desktop sessions (planning mode) surface investment opportunities and financial education.

• Weekend social contexts (aspirational mode) emphasise shared goals and family financial planning.

• Same customer. Same bank. Three completely different value propositions optimised for different modes.

The Strategic Framework: From Demographics to Dynamic Modes

Stop asking "Who is our customer?"

Start asking "Which version of our customer are we serving right now?"

Step 1: Map Your Mode Landscape: Identify the 3-5 primary modes your customers operate in.

For each mode, understand:

What feels urgent versus optional?

• How much cognitive energy is available? What kind of progress creates satisfaction?

• Which trade-offs feel acceptable?

Step 2: Design Mode-Responsive Value Props: Create different value propositions for each mode. Not just different messaging, but different fundamental offers.

Starbucks doesn't just market differently to morning versus afternoon customers. They create different products: efficiency-focused mobile ordering for morning commuters, comfort-focused afternoon experiences for social connectors.

Step 3: Build Mode Transition Support: The most valuable moments aren't when someone is stable in a mode—they're when they're shifting between modes. Design experiences that help people transition smoothly from "stressed parent" to "focused professional" to "social friend."

Step 4: Implement Dynamic Optimisation: Static customer segments can't accommodate mode fluidity. Build systems that recognize mode signals and adapt experiences in real-time.

The AI Multiplication Effect

Artificial intelligence doesn't just optimise existing modes.

It creates entirely new ones.

When your AI agent handles routine purchases (efficiency mode automation), cognitive bandwidth gets reallocated to higher-value decisions (enhanced explorer and aspirational modes). Let’s call it "mode amplification". AI makes existing modes more sophisticated while enabling new

Emerging AI-Enabled Modes

Delegated Decision Mode: AI handles choices based on learned preferences. Your assistant orders groceries, books travel, and manages subscriptions based on detected patterns and current context.

Augmented Exploration Mode: AI surfaces opportunities that surpass human discovery capabilities. Systems identify learning opportunities, social connections, and experiences that align with your growth trajectory but exceed your current awareness.

Predictive Preparation Mode: AI anticipates needs across identity transitions. Your assistant prepares your environment for mode shifts—adjusting home lighting for evening transition from work mode to family mode.

The brands that understand AI as mode amplification technology rather than efficiency automation will create unassailable competitive advantages.

What This Means for Your Strategy

Every industry will be rebuilt around mode optimisation rather than customer satisfaction.

Retail: Stores become mode-responsive environments that adapt physical layouts based on detected customer modes.

Financial Services: Banking interfaces reshape themselves based on whether you're in planning mode, efficiency mode, or exploration mode.

Healthcare: Treatment protocols adapt to patient modes—efficiency-seekers receive streamlined care paths, explorers receive educational resources, and patients in protective mode receive additional reassurance.

Transportation: Vehicles become mode-responsive environments that optimise for your current psychological state rather than just getting you from point A to point B.

Be A Mode Master

Traditional customer strategy optimises for consistency: the same brand voice, the same experience, and the same value proposition.

Mode-responsive strategy optimises for relevance to align with customers' shifting identity states.

The brands that master mode detection and response won't just have better customer relationships, they'll have fundamentally different businesses, built around human psychology rather than industrial efficiency.

Consumer modes aren't coming. They're here.

Do you recognise them as strategic thinking, or dismiss them as tactical complexity?

Because in a world where technology enables instant identity switching, the only sustainable advantage is deep, dynamic relevance to the person your customer is becoming.

Everything else is just noise in an increasingly mode-driven marketplace.

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Thanks for reading me. Have a great weekend!

Michael