Dialling up a better phone: Kids have their say
In 2024, HMD investigated a global parental dilemma: smartphones are putting kids at risk, and over half of parents regret handing them over. Now, the conversation evolves. HMD went straight to the source—kids. By listening to what they want, alongside their parents' concerns, the Better Phone Project has uncovered a vision for a device that kids love and parents trust.
Join Adam Ferguson, HMD’s Head of Global Marketing Propositions, as he unpacks insights from direct conversations with young people and parents, blending data and stories to reveal what balance in a digital world truly looks like—and how bold design can create phones that empower the next generation.
Adam Ferguson is big into understanding people’s problems and tearing up norms until a solution presents itself. He has spent his career matching global trends and individuals’ needs with products and services purpose built to help. At HMD he is responsible for the balance between Insights, Propositions and Product Marketing.
Over the last 18 months Adam and his teams at HMD have been on a journey to understand the needs and experiences of younger tech users and how these sit alongside the hopes and fears of their parents. It’s clear the smartphone landscape needs to change, and the path to that change comes by listening. In this case, listening to more than 35,000 parents and kids who have revealed what they want when it comes to their own relationships with tech and from the phones of the future.
This isn’t the first time Adam and HMD have taken on an industry spanning challenge. They are also actively engaged in changing the industry’s approach to eWaste by designing repairability into smartphones of all price points. To this end Adam is a member of the Circular Design Forum and in 2024 contributed to their Circular Electronics Design Guide, a joint venture with Accenture and the CEP which aims to help with the embedding of circularity into design. In 2025 he’ll be speaking at London Climate Action Week.