Design Fiction

In an increasingly uncertain future context, participatory speculative design become a future probe for exploring complex socio-technical issues and a diverse world. Compared to speculative design, the focus of participatory speculative design shifts from artifacts to process, empowering the public through multi-stakeholder participation. Building upon future prototypes and scenarios, participants and designers co-create potential pluralistic futures, and democratize imagination. This paper, based on a literature review of recent research in this field, outlines three practical pathways of participatory speculative design, which are characterized as "technical speculation," "social speculation," and "integrated speculation," along with seven participatory methods that can be used in the design process. Finally, the study proposed a framework for participatory speculative design flow, delineating four phases to guide the practice of participatory speculative design.

This essay argues that design work is already governance. It reads today’s shift from liberal capitalism toward a finitude-oriented, mercantile order as a reconfiguration of what counts as “good,” “desirable,” and “valuable” in practice, with designers translating political priorities into roadmaps, taxonomies, models, and contracts that pre-decide what becomes visible, sayable, and countable.  Building on Fry’s account of finitude, defuturing, and the need for redirective practice, I frame this transition as a design problem before it is a policy problem. (Fry, 2011). Reading Rancière, I treat aesthetics as the distribution of the sensible—form is not neutral; it organizes participation, exclusion, and the horizons of action. (Rancière, 2013).

The essay develops three theses: 1) liberal competition yields to bloc-based enclosure that secures chokepoints and allegiance; 2) a “friendly” technocratic aesthetic normalizes harm by bureaucratizing it; 3) platform-state fusion extends enclosure into orbital space (“astrocapitalism”), demanding stewardship metrics, interop, and public options.  From these, I propose a trioptic stance—social, aesthetic, political—operationalized as upstream constraints: due-process charters, audit trails, appeal timelines, interoperability and exit by default, and refusal policies that are collectively owned.

Rather than claim that design can “save” the future, I argue for making current design governance legible, contestable, and correctable, aligning professional accountability with material limits and public interest. (Margolin, 2002).

Abstract
This paper examines Gene Roddenberry’s Star Trek universe through the conceptual lens of technological communism. It explores how the series portrays a classless, equitable, and sustainable society made possible by advanced technologies and ethical governance. The analysis is structured around three interrelated axes: the informatic connectivity of intelligence, which redefines cognition as a distributed and networked phenomenon; technocratic socialism, which frames technology as a tool for collective welfare under transparent and democratic governance; and collective effort, which highlights the transformative power of coordinated action across diverse communities. Drawing on theoretical insights from Donna Haraway, Slavoj Žižek, Bruno Latour, and Hannah Arendt, the paper situates Star Trek as both a utopian narrative and a practical framework for addressing contemporary global challenges, including resource scarcity, environmental crises, and social inequality. The study concludes that technology, when guided by ethical and collective values, can serve as a catalyst for building a post-scarcity, inclusive, and sustainable future.

The Power of 8" was an experimental futures project, collaboratively driven by an ad hoc team of eight people from different walks of life. The aim was to explore new pathways for creating democratic futures by building a public discourse around the aspirations of ordinary people. The team of eight comprised a Designer/Speculator, an Educator, an Interaction Designer, a Permaculturist, a Policy Researcher, an Urbanist, a retired Civil Servant, and a Biomedical Scientist. Through a series of three intensive workshops, and later a wider public engagement phase, we adopted a narrative approach to building a collective view, representing possible futures of Brentford in London, England. This paper describes the strategies we used -including maps, montage and storytelling -to develop concepts, visualise proposals and materialise 'future artefacts' during the project.

This paper argues in favor of a deeper understanding of the importance of futures in information systems (IS) research and proposes an initial set of guidelines for the inclusion, in IS publications, of an optional section devoted to the discussion of futures. The proposal was inspired by reflections on the nature of disruptive innovations and was grounded on a cross disciplinary literature review in the areas of IS, management, and computer science. The proposal includes examples of preferable futures and a discussion of their exploration. The anticipation of sustainable futures has the potential to (1) enrich the debate in IS research, (2) contribute to the development of preferable futures, and (3) create knowledge bases of scenarios and trajectories for such development. As far as theory is concerned, the paper advances the incorporation of futures in IS research. For the practice of the discipline, the paper proposes an additional dimension for the publication of impactful research that takes into account the needs of today's managers, namely those who deal with uncertain environments.

Understanding patient needs is an important factor in the design of healthcare services, however ethnographic research methods can be intrusive in sensitive care settings and create privacy concerns such as when researching Type 2 diabetes. We offer the Fiction Probe as a contribution in the form of a field study tool that uses storytelling to allow patients to tell their story from their perspective. We used speculative design and the multi-choice narrative, represented as a pick-a-path storybook, to re-imagine the form and content of field study research tools. With our work, we hope to expand the range of methods used to understand patients in healthcare settings and to also inspire new ways of thinking about field study research tools in sensitive care settings, and more broadly, in ambiguous design contexts. • General and reference~Design • Human-centered computing~Human computer interaction (HCI)

„Hybrydy” i „hybrydowość” to pojęcia, które dawno przekroczyły granice biologicznych definicji, stając się kluczem do opisu współczesnej kultury i sztuki oraz przestrzeni, w jakich funkcjonujemy. W siódmym numerze „Elementów” przyglądamy się tym złożonym, niejednoznacznym fenomenom, które przenikają naszą codzienność, rozmywając tradycyjne podziały na naturalne – sztuczne, organiczne – technologiczne, realne – wirtualne. Hybrydy nie są już marginalnym zjawiskiem, stały się głównym nurtem, który kształtuje nasze postrzeganie świata.

Con migliaia di anni di storia alle spalle, una straordinaria complessità culturale e una posizione geografica all’esatto confine fra il nord e il sud del mondo, la Sicilia è il perfetto laboratorio per iniziative di innovazione sociale e ambientale. Palermo, in particolare, è un luogo urbano adatto a sperimentare modelli diversi, nuove tecnologie e soluzioni, in condizioni molto simili a quel 80% di città del pianeta che non possono permettersi di riprogettare o trasformare rapidamente il proprio tessuto sociale e urbano. Il contributo offre una panoramica sul percorso del laboratorio PUSH nell'ambito del design per l'innovazione sociale e la sostenibilità a Palermo ed espone l'approccio "design fiction" come strumento di partecipazione creativa per coinvolgere e stimolare il dibattito allargando la prospettiva a “futuri” plurali e collettivi.

La sociologia ha sempre considerato il cambiamento sociale e le trasformazioni come suo campo di osservazione e analisi, dedicando, per tale ragione, molta attenzione ai mutamenti che si andavano verificando nelle società e ai processi culturali che ne organizzavano le dinamiche (Rizza 2003). Ogni trasformazione sociale, infatti, presuppone un adattamento culturale che ne permette la continuità e lo sviluppo nel tempo e che necessita di essere trasmessa da generazione in generazione per un progressivo miglioramento e adeguamento alle condizioni storiche che si vivono. Allo stesso tempo, la cultura permette all’essere umano di conformare l’ambiente alle sue esigenze, apportando a sua volta una trasformazione, in un processo di scambio costante (Cuche 2006). Per cause endogene ed esogene, dunque, i cambiamenti nella società si presentano come fenomeni costanti e addirittura caratteristici del sistema sociale, che vive e sopravvive proprio grazie ai medesimi.
Lo studio del futuro, però, è stato sempre di difficile comprensione e riservato per lo più a «maghi e ciarlatani» (Rizza 2003, p. 10) vedendo crescere lo scetticismo di scienziate e scienziati, sociologhe e sociologi nei confronti della “previsione del futuro”. La difficoltà di prevedere le trasformazioni e gli impatti sull’intera società, di trovare metodi e strumenti efficaci per progettare il futuro, la complessità derivante dall’interdipendenza di diversi fattori che attinenti alla cultura, all’educazione, alla politica, all’economia, alla tecnologia e alle loro innovazioni, o ancora il senso dell’incertezza e della paura, sono tutti fattori che provocano svolte brusche (Mannheim 1957) che privano “tempo” e “spazio” dei vecchi significati e ne generano di nuovi.

This Little Book tells you what Speculative Design is, what the benefits for policy-making are, and how it can be used by policy-makers. This book is based on our research conducted for the ProtoPolicyAsia: empowering local communities and Government in Malaysia in addressing social issues in ageing and disabilities, funded by the AHRC.

This Little Book presents what Speculative Design is, what are its benefits for NGOs and Community Groups, and how it can be used by these groups in Malaysia, as well as other countries. This book is based on our research conducted for the ProtoPolicyAsia: empowering local communities and Government in Malaysia in addressing social issues in ageing and disabilities, funded by the AHRC.

Idea generation requires the generation of many, various and novel ideas, and has the greatest impact on the quality of the final design solution within the design process. The literature offers numerous design methods and tools available for the use of designers in idea generation, though criticisms include the shortcomings of methods in supporting illogical thinking, as well as the lack of studies that test the effects of these methods on idea generation. This paper presents Fictionation, a card-based idea generation tool that seeks to increase novelty and variety by fostering an environment of creative invention based on design fiction and illogical thinking. The effects of the tool on the novelty and explored variety scores of the design outputs are investigated with an experimental study among undergraduate industrial design students. The results indicate that the Fictionation tool increases the novelty and variety of the ideas, and also has effects on improving academic performance and creating a more homogeneous student group.

Here, a group of peers practice anticipatory learning together, drawing on their experience in peeragogical learning environments. Peeragogy is their method for active learning with colleagues, a term to describe how people generate, exchange, negotiate, and apply knowledge together. The goal of anticipatory learning “is not to be well adapted but to adapt well” (Downing 2007, quoted in Tschakert and Dietrich, 2010). These peers work towards that goal peeragogically in a work of design fiction grounded in the present but beginning to explore a possible future of learning.

This paper investigates the integration of Parametric Design and Virtual Reality technologies, focusing on how immersive environments can improve design processes. While both technologies offer benefits, their combined potential as Parametric Virtual Reality remains underexplored. Through conducting a SWOT analysis in focus group sessions with architectural designers, we assessed the current state and integration of these technologies to identify user needs and challenges. Key findings show that while Parametric Design offers efficiency and flexibility, it has a steep learning curve and potential design limitations. VR is praised for its immersive and collaborative qualities, enhancing realtime collaboration and design accuracy when integrated with Parametric Design. However, Parametric Virtual Reality must address usability and accessibility concerns to reach its full potential in architectural design.

Aging is a natural process that brings social and physical challenges among adults, due to which they have to make shifts in habits and routines. Adults belonging to an older age group lose touch with people which provides an opportunity for researchers to think and implement novel ways to engage the population with their loved ones. The advent of technology within the Mixed Reality (MR) space aims to facilitate diverse groups of people to engage in immersive and interactive ways, opening possibilities to address the predicament of aging in an isolated environment. Utilizing participatory design in a virtual setting, inclusive design frameworks and design thinking practices, the contributions of this research are to present the broad concepts of storytelling, social engagement and Mixed Reality existing in the literature, and then take inspiration to co-design a Mixed Reality storytelling system with older adults and their friends & family for the purpose of cultivating meaningful s...

Commercial sleep products exhibit wide variety but share a common failing: they tend to frame sleep problems individually, ignoring the influence of systemic issues on human wellbeing. To discover whether speculative/critical design (scD) might offer a more appropriate framing, we use the method of precedent analysis to assess nine examples of sleep related scD practice. We apply Hale et al.’s socioecological model of sleep health to create a novel framework that classifies how products frame sleep problems and corresponding solutions. This reveals that scD artefacts frequently recognise societal determinants in how they frame sleep, but their solution tend to focus on individual interventions. The paper questions whether scD practitioners might benefit from adopting the concept of publics from political sociology to frame more effective solutions and mobilise action towards a more equitable sleep future. This paper presents an original synthesis of product design, sleep, sociology and politics.

With the urgent issues of biodiversity loss, invasive species,
and climate change, it’s clear we need a «more-than-human-centered»
design approach. This idea is gaining traction with new research and
terms like Multispecies or Interspecies Design. This paper highlights
the importance of moving beyond theory to show real-world applications
in design. To make a real difference, we need practical
methods that turn these concepts into action. It’s crucial to think
about how to measure the long-term impact of these approaches.
This paper aims to provide a hands-on guide, offering designers and
non-designers clear steps to use Multispecies Approaches effectively.

If you say, when would we reach that million-person threshold, from the point at which the first ship goes to Mars, it's probably between 20 to 50 total Mars rendezvous. So it's […] between maybe 40 to 100 years to achieve a fully self-sustaining civilization on Mars." 1 On September 27, 2016 Silicon Valley entrepreneur Elon Musk presented his formidable vision for Mars colonization during the IAC conference in Guadalajara, Mexico. Against the backdrop of a spinning terraforming Mars globe, he explained in detail how over the next few decades people could be ferried to Mars to bootstrap the construction of the first off-planet city. During his presentation, he positioned this plan as a logical extension of mankind's history of exploration and colonization. Musk's SpaceX is one of the relatively new space companies that are developing technology for commercial human spaceflight. Others include Jeff Bezos' Blue Origins and Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic. In response to the Musk's Mars colonization plans, scientist and social activist Danielle Lee had written the year before: "The assumption that colonizing Mars is inherently good and that American narratives are universal, or at least the most paramount, is narrow and exclusive." 2 And back in 2007, Linda Billings, NASA space communicator and space policy analyst, wrote "Examining the history of spaceflight advocacy reveals an ideology of spaceflight that draws deeply on a durable American cultural narrative -a national mythology -of frontier pioneering, continual progress, manifest destiny, free enterprise, [and] rugged individualism." 3 This points to some crucial issues: the current development of mankind's future in outer space is indeed not a culturally inclusive effort, and justifies itself using a historical white colonialist narrative (Columbus' discovery of the Americas is often employed). In this vision, alien worlds are to be subjugated and transformed into a mirror image of the conqueror. Terraforming is a perfect example of this: Mars gets physically and biologically transformed into a copy of planet Earth, violently erasing its otherness. World War II gave birth to space technology, while the subsequent Cold War created the incentive to rapidly evolve it. These military roots are also still present in the world of currentday space exploration: a strong top-down hierarchical culture, and the use of a reductionist systems engineering approach. It must be said that both in the military and in aerospace the challenges have been recognized. The strategy of working with more autonomous distributed squads has been explored by allied forces in the Middle East for many years,

Les ouvrages de la collection établissent un nouveau type de cartographie, faisant de la pluridisciplinarité un outil dans l'étude des dynamiques territoriales des entreprises au sein de la mondialisation. La neuroconnexion, technologie utopique cyberpunk Impact sur les représentations des chercheurs et investisseurs CONCLUSION La science-fiction, enfer ou paradis de l'ère industrielle ? Bibliographie Quelques exemples d'oeuvres visionnaires Jane Webb Loudon a évoqué en 1827 dans son livre Mummy : A Tale of the Twenty-Second Century, un futur dans lequel les femmes portent des pantalons et où les automates fonctionnent comme chirurgiens et avocats. Elle a surtout à manger allant au four à micro-ondes, récemment inventé. Cette vision se réalisa quelques décennies plus tard et révolutionna l'industrie agroalimentaire. Dans Fahrenheit 451 (1950), Ray Bradbury a décrit des écouteurs beaucoup plus petits et pratiques que ceux utilisés à son époque. Les écouteurs intra-auriculaires ont été lancés sur le marché de masse en 1980. En 1951, Clifford Simak décrivait dans Time and Again une partir d'échecs entre un homme et un robot. En 1997, Deep Blue a battu Gary Kasparov, le champion du monde, pour la première fois. Il est souvent affirmé qu'Arthur C. Clarke a imaginé une technologie ressemblant à l'iPad dans le roman devenu film 2001 : L'odyssée de l'espace. Tous à Zanzibar est un des romans les plus prophétiques. Publié en 1968, il se déroule en 2019, dans une Amérique dirigée par le président Obomi. Les fusillades dans les écoles et les attaques terroristes sont fréquentes. L'UE existe, les grandes villes comme Détroit s'appauvrissent, le tabac est rejeté, la marijuana décriminalisée et les modes de vie gay et bisexuel sont devenus courants. Brunner décrit aussi la télévision à la demande, les imprimantes laser et les voitures électriques. Le traducteur automatique le plus célèbre de la science-fiction fut décrit en 1979 par Douglas Adams dans Le Guide du routard galactique, le Babel Fish. Dans Earth (1990), David Brin prédisait la diffusion massive d'Internet alors que cette technologie n'en était qu'à ses rudiments. L'évocation du premier sous-marin électrique est souvent attribuée à Jules Verne dans son roman 20 000 lieues sous les mers (1870). Toutefois, il existe des descriptions plus anciennes, notamment dans le roman de la Duchesse de Newcastle Margaret Cavendish The Description of a New World, Called 4 En 1946, la société Raytheon a acquis le procédé de cuisson par microondes et a construit en 1947 le premier four qu'elle a commercialisé, le Radarange pour 2 000 à 3 000 $. Sa masse et son coût limitaient à l'époque sa commercialisation aux restaurants, aux navires de croisière, aux chemins de fer et aux grandes entreprises. Sa forme avait été empruntée au poisson dont il portait le nom. C'était une immense Dorade, dont la queue et les nageoires étaient mues par la vapeur. À la place des écailles brillaient plusieurs rangées de petites fenêtres, et l'air s'introduisait à l'intérieur par des conduits, dont l'extrémité flottait à la surface de la mer. Les nouveaux venus avaient été précédés par une société nombreuse, de sorte que la Dorade ne tarda pas à tracer sa route au milieu des flots ».

Valentina Ravaglia the research degree. The 'Walk London' tour, supremely led by Helen Kearney was an inspiring conclusion to the autumn term and is chronicled in her essay included here. The student-led 'curated sessions' continued as an important, exciting (and frequently jampacked) staple of the HRF calendar, represented in this issue in an article by Andrew Hewish, a picture essay by Luci Eldridge and in the 'focus' sections on Designing Identity, Reenactment and Speculative Thinking, selected by Trond Klevgaard, Helena Bonett and Nina Trivedi respectively. Thank you to Professor Jane Pavitt, Dean of Humanities for her ongoing support of the Forum and this journal. Thanks also to Emily LaBarge for being so generous in lending her excellent copyediting skills once again to this issue, to Nina Trivedi for copyediting her section and a big thank you to Trond Klevgaard for his beautiful design work. Now it is time to mettere alla prova (put it to the test). We hope you enjoy Prova 2.

Drawing on Castoriadis’ (1975) notion of the social imaginary, the creative intersection of graphic design with the socio-historical field is framed in this paper, not as a utopia but as an innovative and pragmatic liberation from the unshakeable reality of the everyday. The macho ‘reality’ of survival in a world of financial insecurity, police harassment, and racism situates sustainability, community, and caring for the planet or elderly as less important or soft, as mass media responses to the IPCC report attest. Even the ‘reality’ of design education is determined by precarious labour markets and the commodification of knowledge in the neoliberal university. In this context, the conceptual capacity for alternative modes of problem-setting and solving is critically delimited. Design fiction is introduced in this paper as a research method (that facilitates a radical adaptation of the social imaginary for design students educators and/with local communities. In so doing fiction reveals alternative modulations of our local identities and future formulations, in relation to climate change/disaster. Within the social imaginary fiction intervenes as a catalyst for collective transfiguration, adaptation, and innovation, a re-envisioning of design’s relationship with the ‘real’ in light of a new urgency to move forward in a new trajectory.

The strategic role of fiction is explored and evaluated in two contexts; firstly, as the research method employed in a design educators’ conference in the UK (GDEN, Ideas of Revolt, 2017). In this context, alternative socio-political scenarios (utopia, dictatorship, monarchy, communism) are examined in an action-based workshop on the speculative possibilities of art school – as a
concept and place. The mythical capacity for creative autonomy and/or revolt is considered through collective modulations of graphic design practice: problematised and unpicked by design academics from across the UK in an effort to understand the core needs of the art school experience. The underlying principles, purpose, and potential of the art school are thus
interrogated as more of an open concept unconstrained by the ‘preconstituted’ boundaries of the ‘impossible’. The second case study analyses and evaluates the role of digital technologies, such as video, AR, and VR in the Sankofa City project, a community-university collaboration
based in a historically black neighbourhood in South Los Angeles. Not only are collective, cooperative, or co-design research methods a feature of this project, but fiction plays a key role in giving the local community permission to imagine, and make tangible, their alternative futures in a profoundly eco-social imaginary. Fiction is thus a form of everyday agency, helping us move
beyond the impasses of the real to embrace radically new stories about designers as critical agents. A new Social Imaginary is proposed in this context as a catalyst for adaptation to facilitate change, pivoting from the assumptions of the real towards a new imaginary in which our relationship to the planet’s natural resources is as interwoven as our collective identity
within each current micro or macro social network.

Ever faster, stronger, more beautiful, more intelligent, the cult of individual performance has taken hold in a technological society where the body seems increasingly to be seen as an improvable tool. As a species, humans have always adapted to their environment, but the demands on their performance are increasingly sophisticated and rapidly changing.

In the contemporary technological and digital world, design is a tool for thinking and creating about improving our physical, intellectual and emotional capabilities. But this involvement raises a series of medical, ethical, social and philosophical questions. Indeed, this desire to go beyond one's biological limits is part of a cultural and social context and reflects a way of making society that it is important to question. After having shaped the world around us, what is the role of the designer in a society that wants to make us super-human?

À la fois critique sociale mordante et humoristique, le récit initiatique de Makan Fofana s'exprime à travers des envolées poétiques et spéculatives du design fiction afin d'inviter chacun de ses lecteurs à dépasser l'ère classique de la "crise des banlieues" et atteindre une période de prospérité et de bonheur. En utilisant le terme "turfu" popularisé par Booba, Makan Fofana retrace son parcours et encourage son lecteur à fusionner des mondes variés, depuis la magie de J.K. Rowling jusqu'à la culture du quartier, en passant par le cinéma et les grands mythes fondateurs de la banlieue.

The following chapter presents an ideology of working – ‘landscape fictions’ as ‘future realities’ – and an example of how this methodology was deployed in one recent design project. Both the methodology and the project are reflective of the agency of the absurd or ‘sublime madness’ (as described in the piece) to point, prod, expose, and catalyze change through imaginative response to the conditions in which we currently exist.

The following paper examines the role of science fiction in shaping future scenarios that can be concretely realized. Building upon the concept of design fiction, it will seek to define what a forecast is and how it actively influences the construction of the future. The apparent prophetic nature of science fiction can be explained by the fact that every time we use language or other symbols to refer to objects in the world around us, we are actively participating in the process of constructing those objects. Consequently, the prediction itself can be considered a social construction. Through the act of narrating and imaginative activity, we intervene in the world and actively contribute to its construction (Von Stackelberg e McDowell, 2015). This constructivist perspective is closely related to symbolic interactionism and the sociology of action, both of which suggest that each of us actively contributes to the creation of social structures through daily actions (Fuller e Loogma, 2009). When we apply these principles to future studies, we can see social reality as a shared construction, where each member of a group participates in developing a worldview through the encoding of available information. The concept of design fiction explores various configurations of possible futures and seeks to elicit a response in society. It's crucial to note that fictional narratives don't strictly aim to predict the future but simulate potential futures. These scenarios function as exploration tools and decision-making instruments, shaping our ideas about the future and leading us to anticipate the construction and use of once seemingly impossible artifacts and devices. The example of flying cars in science fiction illustrates a fundamental distinction between a narrative about the future and the actual practice of world-building. This practice involves creating geographically, socially, and culturally coherent fictional worlds. Integral to this process is Alex McDowell's Mandala of World-building, a tool and a method for narrative buildings process. This method, that is the focus of this paper, integrates knowledge from various disciplines, altering the filmmaking process and blurring boundaries between physical and virtual environments. McDowell's world-building model demonstrates the potential of using narrative to communicate visions of science and technology, sparking reflections and discussions about the future. McDowell's approach offers a new way to blend design and speculative narration, elevating fictional worlds to a new level projecting them into the future. This operation, evident in much science fiction, becomes a specialized and interdisciplinary laboratory for constructing future worlds. The proposal of an integrated world-building practice suggests an opportunity to expand the concept of fictional possible worlds towards new horizons of broad interest for narratological discipline and semiotics. We are facing, indeed, worlds constructed to engage in direct dialogue with the reality of the physical world, and which sit on a borderline between fictional enunciation and mental experimentation on the future. KEYWORDS: Science-Fiction, Future, Narratology, Design fiction, Worldbuilding

This article proposes to discuss a research/design methodology aimed at developing urban visions based on case study analysis of existing urban environments using Virtual Reality technology and Photogrammetry. In order to visualize possible scenarios for the city of the future the method described here is based on "drawing over" existing urban images whether in a 2D format or a 3D environment. As a preliminary to this creative urban design exercise the urban context of a specific street is analyzed both in terms of its physical and material qualities as well as its experiential ones. This methodology is tied to a pedagogical approach initiated at two different schools of architecture, one located in Nantes, France and the other in Tallahassee, Florida, US. The idea consists in having a team of students in each school engage in a case study of an existing street and then propose design improvements and scenarios for urban development and growth. The process would involve 3 steps; drawing over in 2D, drawing over on a projected 360° flatten image in immersion and finally sketching in 3D in immersion. This last step would allow a "co-presence" of students from both schools in a shared conceptual and design experience. Aside from the obvious differences between urban fabrics in Europe and the US, the value of this exercise would lie in comparing design approaches based on similar methodology but rooted in different geographic locations and urban design cultures. Faced with issues of high density, mobility, low economic growth, inequalities and sustainability, European cities have been under pressure to constantly innovate in terms of urban planning and design whereas the US has only seen such ideas of controlled density an urban environment quality gain traction in the past 20 years with such movements as the New Urbanism. The methodology described here is aimed at inspiring the creation of urban visions by means of using VR technology, photogrammetry and the idea of "drawing over". We see the value of this approach by combining the use of specific technologies and a positioning from two different cultural perspectives.

We present an innovative approach to envisioning future architectural spaces by combining Design Fiction principles and Extended Reality (XR) technologies. With the advent of XR technologies, human actions and interactions within spaces may change, necessitating a rethinking of architectural design. This anticipated change reveals a significant gap in current design practices, which typically do not account for such technological influences. In addressing this gap, our study contributes by offering the [des-Fi] XR tool, designed to facilitate collaborative discussions and stimulate innovative thinking among architects and designers. Through the design of immersive environments, the [des-Fi] XR tool allows for the investigation of speculative design scenarios for future architectural spaces in response to evolving human behaviors shaped by XR. A-Frame, an open-source framework, has been utilized in the development of [des-Fi] XR to ensure accessibility across a broad range of devices. This study presents [des-Fi] XR tool to envision future spaces with XR technologies by incorporating a design fiction kit and A-Frame. We discuss the methodology, design principles, and development of [des-Fi] XR, along with a short analysis of its benefits and drawbacks. Finally, we conclude our research by exploring avenues for future research in this field, further highlighting the importance of filling the existing knowledge gap to anticipate and respond to the future of architectural spaces shaped by evolving XR technologies.

A comprehensive manual provides seven creative exercises designed to equip beginners with the tools for speculative thinking. Inspired by “The Extrapolation Factory,” these exercises utilize clear examples and diagrams to simplify complex methods, making them readily
accessible.

Bullying is a problem concerning us all, especially our children. Human Computer Interaction (HCI) has invited children to tackle this problem through design and technology. However, yet there is limited research including critical engagement with the topic, even if the critical agenda is arousing increasing interest in HCI. Design fiction has shown potential in addressing critical concerns. However, albeit design fiction has entered HCI method repertoire already some time ago, it is an ambiguous concept with multiple meanings and usages. We map and articulate some of this variety: fascinating, future-oriented, and provocative studies are identified, while also a lack of critical design fiction, aiming at empowerment of the power-weak. We contribute by exploring such kind of design fiction in collaboration with children to tackle the problem of bullying. We scrutinize our participatory and empowering design fiction process and outcomes and discuss their implications for HCI research and design fiction practice. CCS CONCEPTS • Human-centered computing → Empirical studies in interaction design; • Social and professional topics → K-12 education.

Innovative solutions are critical in an era marked by global challenges such as climate change, pandemics, and urbanization. The FictionXR Framework integrates Extended Reality (XR) with Design Fiction and Science Fiction (Sci-Fi) prototyping to create and think about future spaces with XR tech implementation. This novel integration facilitates discussions about the fusion of the virtual and physical domains and offers an immersive platform for architects to experience and design for future challenges. Through a preliminary study involving newly graduated architects, the efficacy of the framework was tested, shedding light on its potential to catalyze creativity and facilitate collaborative design endeavors. The feedback gathered underscores the promise of the FictionXR Framework, with participants generating speculative narratives and visions while gaining a deeper appreciation for the interplay of XR within architectural contexts. This research explores innovative approaches to architectural practice by combining Design Fiction and Sci-Fi prototyping. It aims to develop strategies that can effectively respond to emerging challenges while embracing imaginative possibilities.

We present an innovative approach to envisioning future architectural spaces by combining Design Fiction principles and Extended Reality (XR) technologies. With the advent of XR technologies, human actions and interactions within spaces may change, necessitating a rethinking of architectural design. This anticipated change reveals a significant gap in current design practices, which typically do not account for such technological influences. In addressing this gap, our study contributes by offering the [des-Fi] XR tool, designed to facilitate collaborative discussions and stimulate innovative thinking among architects and designers. Through the design of immersive environments, the [des-Fi] XR tool allows for the investigation of speculative design scenarios for future architectural spaces in response to evolving human behaviors shaped by XR. A-Frame, an open-source framework, has been utilized in the development of [des-Fi] XR to ensure accessibility across a broad range of devices. This study presents [des-Fi] XR tool to envision future spaces with XR technologies by incorporating a design fiction kit and A-Frame. We discuss the methodology, design principles, and development of [des-Fi] XR, along with a short analysis of its benefits and drawbacks. Finally, we conclude our research by exploring avenues for future research in this field, further highlighting the importance of filling the existing knowledge gap to anticipate and respond to the future of architectural spaces shaped by evolving XR technologies.

This study examines public space and its practices in the context of the concept of "performativity" in light of Lefebvre's "social production of space" and "differential space" discourses. The main purpose of this study is to argue that the production of performative space is a powerful method to ensure the existence of desired public spaces in today's heterogeneous cities. In line with these views, this study aims to reveal the positions of the expert who designs the public space and the individual who is the user of the space, regarding the relationship between performativity and space and their reflections in everyday life. It is thought that the data obtained may benefit inquiries regarding future public space constructs.
In this study, public spaces are places where people socialize, construct, and express themselves/identities. At this point, the study is positioned specifically on the design/construction of public spaces by experts to produce a performative space. Performative space attracts attention with features that enable and, according to some, encourage its users to produce space as performers. In this context, the conditions of performative space are defined through discussions of the concept of performativity in various disciplines. These conditions are common to certain concepts. It is even suggested that can be gathered under the concept of "openness" based on Umberto Eco's "open work" theory. The methods of designing a space within the framework of the conditions of the performative space vary. We see that the formation of the designed space offers openness at different scales.
At this point, it examines how and why the formation, and constituent elements of the selected open public space were designed to achieve the purpose of the study in the context of performative space production. This review was conducted in three stages: First, representations of design are analysed in terms of whether they have the potential for performative space within the scope of the elements and formation of the space. Afterwards, it is determined on-site whether the area exactly reflects the design. Finally, in a meeting with the designer regarding the design process, it is learned whether there are details that cannot be transferred to the representations of the project. Considering the information obtained here, the users were also observed on certain days and periods. During this observation, it examines whether the space is used as it is or whether it experiences temporary transformations provided by the openness of the design.
To provide examples in this context:
- Stairs designed with an open design concept between two levels (wider than standard size and open to different uses) offer opportunities other than transportation. Sometimes, it is a playground for children, and sometimes it is an area for social activities. The types and frequencies of these different uses can be examined and determined as parameters to produce a performative space.
- While a seating unit (which is free of all restrictive elements and provides different usage areas for individuals) may be a breakfast table for some, it may be a tripod on which a photographer fixes his/her camera. In this example, it is observed whether users temporarily use this area for their purposes.
This study brings different perspectives and interpretations to public space designs and also serves as a suggestion for approaches in which the designer, while producing the space, can re-include the individuals who use the space in the design as agents for the reproduction of the space, instead of being just users.

Is what’s over the horizon a bit blurry for you? The future presents a
greater feeling of certainty when you hold a piece of it in your hands.
Making Futures Present is a one-hour personal experiential foresight and design thinking workshop that helps to review and rethink the future by co-creating multiple scenarios.
It is very tempting for us to turn our gaze away from the future when it looks blurry, seems unknowable, and feels menacing. However, strategic foresight is a practice of low-risk thought experiments to reflect on the capacity to manage complex and turbulent scenarios. This is an experiential learning workshop to help us envision preferred futures via design fiction objects. As a result, participants will increase their comfort level with uncertainty and take steps in the present toward the future that they want.
Making Futures Present was awarded the Next Generation Foresight Practitioner award from the School of International Futures in 2018. It was also awarded the Most Significant Futures Work by the Association of Professional Futurists in 2019. It has been adapted for high school students, seniors, artists, writers, journalists, and people who are in career transitions. In 2020 it was adapted for youth anti-vaping research with the University of Toronto School of Public Health and recreated as an online research tool called Nod from 2050 in 2021. Most recently, it was adapted again for anti-vaping training onsite at a high school in Toronto.

This research explores personal experiential futures in the creation of a new technique for helping an individual to envision a preferred future for himself or herself living in complex global futures. “Making the Futures Present” is the prototype of a proposed personal futures technique that begins by exploring ‘the world out there’ before ‘the inner world’. By the end of a three-phase interview cycle each participant receives a personalized high-fidelity prototype. That artifact or experience intentionally provokes the participant’s perception of the expected future. The proposed technique employs concepts from experiential futures, ethnographic futures research and prototyping processes. This technique is described in this paper step by step with images from every stage of the process. The paper includes a literature review of evolving foresight practices that locating this technique in personal futures, a growing area of interest. The paper refers to comparable narrative therapy practices and other disciplines that can be useful references in the evolution of this technique. Outcomes from this research, by way of participant statements and supporting theory, yield various insights for the development of this technique and why this concept is necessary now.

Keywords: foresight, personal futures, ethnographic futures research, prototyping, experiential futures, narrative therapy

Les représentations imaginaires des hackers dans la science-fiction ont évolué depuis les années 1960. Les cyberpunks ont contribué à populariser l'image d'un individu révolté, souvent anarchiste, détenteur d'un pouvoir technologique considérable. Un panorama des oeuvres les plus connues mettant en scène des hackers est dressé. Neuromancien, Le Samourai Virtuel, Sword Art Online, Matrix ou Salvation sont les plus marquantes. Le hacker peut notamment être un héros défendant des valeurs libertariennes, ou un dangereux terroriste nuisible au genre humain. Ces fictions ont eu une influence sur les représentations de la cybercriminalité. Elles ont suscité des vocations chez les futurs informaticiens, et inspiré les recherches de spécialistes de cybersécurité. Au niveau économique, les hackerspaces s'appuient sur une philosophie inspirée par l'anarchisme numérique des cyberpunks. ABSTRACT. Imaginary representations of hackers in science fiction have evolved since the 1960s. Cyberpunks have helped popularize the image of a rebellious, often anarchical, individual, who wields considerable technological power. In this article, a panorama of the most famous works featuring hackers is drawn up. Neuromancer, Snow Crash, Sword Art Online, The Matrix or Salvation are the most notable. The hacker character can either be a hero defending libertarian values, or a dangerous terrorist harmful to the human race. These representations have, in turn, had an influence on representations of cybercrime. They have influenced vocations among future computer scientists, as well as inspired the research of cybersecurity specialists. At the economic level, hackerspaces are based on a philosophy inspired by the digital anarchism of cyberpunks.

Spatial computing technologies enable new interaction possibilities every day between virtual and physical
spaces by bringing out new products that aim for a smarter lifestyle. The underlying technology of these new
products is named XR (Extended Reality-Cross Reality) technologies, which include augmented, virtual, and
mixed reality technologies and perhaps all future reality technologies waiting to be discovered. However,
studies on the adaptation of XR technologies to daily life remain product-oriented, and solutions on how
spaces will change with these technologies or how these technologies can be integrated into spaces remain
deficient. The wide variety of science fiction artworks throughout history shows that people think about life
in the future, and it is seen that these thoughts affect the use of technology in spaces over time. While these
effects sometimes highlight the benefits of technology and encourage the use of technology in the future,
sometimes people imagine a future without technology, emphasizing dystopias, which affect the adaptation
of technology. This research aims to study the possible uses of existing XR technologies in the smart spaces of
the future from a different perspective through the concept of design fiction. Here, design fiction will be used
as a design technique for speculating future spaces within the scope of spatial computing technologies by
analyzing the space, technology, and human relations in science fiction movies and series. In this study, we
analyzed sci-fi movies and TV series to determine the ones containing XR elements, and then we discussed
the use of XR in these media productions. In the end, we made speculations on future spaces with XR
technology and propose a future space design method with the transition from science fiction to design fiction.

Working with the designer Liam Healy (Design department, Goldsmiths, University of London), our group devised a workshop to position and explore Goldsmiths Center for Contemporary Art as an example of an infrastructural object — that is, a result and realization of a complex set of related and interlocking intentions, conditions and stakeholders. This allowed us to do two things. Firstly, to collectively discuss the some of the specific strands that made a gallery possible — University policy, the process of selecting and hiring its staff, and the perspectives of the architects — as fields in themselves, and as paths towards the realization of a university gallery. Secondly, this offered the context in which to imagine these factors as a whole, as they were combined into an actual space, and as we might re-imagine its construction. As a token of what we suggested was a more general approach, the Goldsmiths Center for Contemporary Art, was seen primarily as a vehicle to develop new frameworks of analysis that go beyond the singular institutional blueprint, to consider the infrastructures of policy and economic conditions. Led by Rose Lejeune, Bahar Noorizadeh, Tom Clark and Liam Healy.

is a research assistant in the subproject "Posthuman De-differentiation" within the Collaborative Research Center (CRC) 1482 "Studies in Human Categorization" at the JGU Mainz. His research focuses on the sociology of the future, the sociology of media, and the sociology of digital games, with an emphasis on qualitative methods, especially video analysis. His dissertation examines future constructions and practices of human differentiation in digital games.

This article addresses the need for teaching materials and systematized methods for teaching and assessing values-based design approaches. We do so by suggesting the teaching activity Envisioning future scenarios,which is based on utopian and dystopian scenarios in line with values-based design approaches such as speculative and critical design and related to design fiction practices. The teaching activity is presented with learning outcomes, instructions for how to implement it, corresponding assessment activities and criteria, and illustrated by a teaching case description. The article ends with a discussion on how the learning outcomes, the teaching activity, and the assessment are brought together in line with the principles of constructive alignment. Through this, we argue that the shortcoming of teaching materials and systematized methods for teaching and assessing values-based design approaches, such as speculative and critical design, can be addressed by aligning intended le...

As gender dynamics continue to shift, yet substantial discrepancies persist globally, the ongoing emphasis on female fertility remains undiminished. Director Yeva Wu's satirical short film "The Enigma" addresses this issue in a hypothetical future where men and women equally bear the responsibility of procreation through an artificial uterus.

This paper extends the analysis of the case study to explore the broader implications of speculative design in addressing complex societal problems. It delves into the ways in which this speculative future, as proposed by the case study, prompts a reevaluation of the traditional understanding of life and the ethical implications of human interactions, relationships, and even reproduction.

The paper also examines how critical design, as exemplified by the case study, can serve as a catalyst for reimagining new, nonhierarchical bioethics that encompasses the kinship of humans, animals, and machines. It aims to contribute to the ongoing discourse on the transformative potential of critical design in addressing the multifaceted relationship problems that arise in the context of advancing technology and evolving conceptions of life.

This paper investigates humor as a resource and strategy for design with discourse as an intended outcome. While humor can incite empathy and understanding, it can also lead to alienation and disengagement. Through the detailing of the pre-narrative and narrative processes of a design fiction, we describe why and how elements of humor, in particular puns, parody, and pastiche, were employed. Following the presentation of the fiction and its use in the design of an exhibition of diegetic prototypes, the paper presents responses from participants and audience members to reflect upon how the humor was received. Following a discussion on these reflections, as the near-future scenario was written four years prior and is now situated within the present-day, it then concludes with a post-mortem reflection on the floating nature of humor.

Here we consider design ethnography, and design fiction. We cast these two approaches, and the design endeavor itself, as forward-looking processes. Exploring the means by which design ethnography and design fiction derive their value reveals the potential for a mutually beneficial symbiosis. Our thesis argues that design ethnography can provide design fiction with the methods required to operationalize the practice in industry contexts. Meanwhile design fiction can provide design ethnographers a novel way of extending the temporal scope of the practice, thus deriving actionable insights that are applicable further into the future. "While we are more than ever aware of both the promise and the threat of technological advance, we still lack the intellectual means and political tools for managing progress."

In a context driven by uncertainty, climate crisis, and erratic societal behaviors, proposing fashion futures practices on a more sustainable and less predictable basis is paramount. This paper reflects on the limitations of fashion forecasting to offer a values-driven and sustainability-oriented alternative to fashion futures practices. Based on an interpretative and qualitative approach, this study emerges from a series of collaborative workshops that interlace reality and fiction, materiality and culture, free-spirited imagination and strategic planning not as oppositional dualisms but as complementary and entrenched concepts. As a result, it proposes Fashion Futuringa methodological approach that intertwines speculative design, material culture, and foresight as a more expanded, systemic, and values-driven futures-thinking strategy for fashion. Fashion Futuring explores collaboration and cultural values embedded into fictional artefacts as drivers to bridge imagination and reflection for planning transitions towards sustainability.

The Alternative Art School (AAS) is conceived as an open-ended pedagogic tool through which to interrogate the conditions and consequences of contemporary education. It is interdisciplinary in scope, but focuses on the values of design education, while challenging assumptions of the academic status quo. As a 'school' within a school the AAS exploits the opportunities of art school to envisage alternatives in a staff−student collaboration. Extra-curricular and unmarked, the AAS is framed as a case study here employing a dialogic process that aims to disrupt reductive government policy and challenge the fusion of commerce and culture. In this way students are encouraged to reframe their experiences and ambitions from a more critical position and to inspire change through creative dissent.

This article aims to show the results of a product design workshop that has used Speculative Fiction as a creative tool. The experience has been carried out with students of the university degree at Escola Massana in Barcelona.The construction of fictions has been considered as a catalyst tool for a creative journey originated from a given stimulus. The proposal of alternative futures has allowed the questioning of political, economic, ecological or cultural values associated with different parameters. The method has facilitated the creative capacity to produce critical thinking through works and eloquent objects of those futures.Throughout the course, discourses have been developed that facilitate the approach to a critical and sensitive vision of creative production. With this approach we have achieved the construction of an inclusive and universal story that develops alternative futures where all voices feel represented. Likewise, the communicative capacity for the construction o...

Here we consider design ethnography, and design fiction. We cast these two approaches, and the design endeavor itself, as forward-looking processes. Exploring the means by which design ethnography and design fiction derive their value reveals the potential for a mutually beneficial symbiosis. Our thesis argues that design ethnography can provide design fiction with the methods required to operationalize the practice in industry contexts. Meanwhile design fiction can provide design ethnographers a novel way of extending the temporal scope of the practice, thus deriving actionable insights that are applicable further into the future. "While we are more than ever aware of both the promise and the threat of technological advance, we still lack the intellectual means and political tools for managing progress."