Speculative Design is an approach that considers alternate futures for technology and society. Through prototyping and/or defining scenarios, important discussions about ethics or the impact of design on the environment and culture can be brought to the forefront of the design process. Sometimes considered alarmist and sensational, it’s still a powerful tool for design. Phil Balagtas is a well-known futurist.

In this talk with Woolies X design team, I shared the benefits and application of speculative design and foresight for designing futures, and how they combine with 9 other practices in life-centred design.

Play evil, learn ethics, save the world, and more, with speculative design

Combining science fiction world-building techniques with design to discover unseen potential futures. Part 1.

Combining science fiction world-building techniques with design to discover unseen potential futures. Part 2.

A game of fast design, Future Scouting combines speculative design with designing for values. You’ll ideate, sketch, and review and sabotage other Scouts in your quest to design the invention that best enables the Key Value.

• How to research signals of future change
• How to use the Futures Cone, Futures Wheel and other tools to speculate future scenarios
• Design future technology products
• Create a product to be displayed in the ALT-FUTRS store

• How to research signals of future change
• How to use the Futures Cone, Futures Wheel and other tools to speculate future scenarios
• Design future technology products
• Create a product to be displayed in the ALT-FUTRS store

Through the Future Scouting Workshop, we explored future connectivity needs of an existing customer persona in four alternative scenarios of Australia 2028, based on two key drivers—climate change and the pandemic.

The Maya Lenz is a speculative future design for an advanced mixed reality contact lens that provides the wearer a persistent, uber-personalised view of the world.

Speculative smart patches that monitor your well-being according to your choice of medical belief (Western bio-medical, Traditional Chinese, or Tantric Buddhism).

How might mixed reality impact airline travel.
This 15-minute prototype explored a future in-flight mixed reality pack.

As a submission to the United Nation’s Futuring Peace initiative, The One Heart Treaty speculated a future treaty between states at conflict committing them to ritual breathing via a smart phone app to minimise tension.

Fast design fictions created during Future Scouting workshops and games and collected in a future store.

6 examples of combining science fiction world-building techniques with design to create prototypes of future artefacts

How tools for exploring future scenarios can also be used in today’s design projects.

Experimental tools to align speculative and futures design with core values and life-centred thinking.

Keep design decisions centred on values, challenging biases and assumptions, and future-minded