A Significant Moment in History: A Virtual Living Lab. LifeStyle Narratives That Are Shaping Our World; the Cases of Japan and UK 2019–2020

2020 will go down in history as a tipping point when societies reassessed the fundamental objectives and principles that they had seen their communities develop. As a basis for investigating a broad sense of LifeStyle by Design, some 20 potentially rich narratives are used as the basis for these empirical analyses. They are our Virtual Living Lab at a time of unparalleled attitudinal and behavioural change and uncertainty. Social sharing is more authentic and trustworthy than traditional forms of mass communications. We explore our narratives in the UK and Japan and draw novel yet consistent, scalable implications for policy makers and public and private institutions alike. We track what people think is important to them and thus lay a foundation for engagement, in contrast to the traditional advertising communications approach of intrusion. Some of the new behaviours may become permanent, but there is a general need to streamline and simplify. People are against the complex, not because they want a simple life but because they want more time to enjoy enriched life experiences. At times of change, especially when uncertainty can bring negative outcomes, it is critical to be able to know what to say and how to say it so that leaders can establish trust and the right tone for the moment.