Speculative Design
Futuring
Definition
Speculative design can take many forms, but it is defined by the departure from the standard plans for the future, substituting your ideal version of the future, and seeing what needs to be changed to make that happen.
“Large-scale speculative design contests “official reality”; it is a form of dissent expressed through alternative design proposals. It aims to be inspirational, infectious, and catalytic, zooming out and stepping back to address values and ethics. It strives to overcome the invisible wall separating dreams and imagination from everyday life, blurring distinctions between the “real” real and the “unreal” real. ”
— Dunne and Raby Speculative Everything Pg 160
Procedure
Preparation
This depends heavily on your industry and the position you find yourself in.
Do an evaluation of what you have at your disposal and how you can use it.
In person
Begin by figuring out what your ideal future looks like.
Then find what you can use at your disposal to design your way to your ideal future. Create a real plan on how you would make it happen. The key here is to imagine that everyone wants to help you and will not stand in your way. They won’t make things appear out of nowhere, but that begrudging boss is now generous and willing to fund innovative ideas.
Analysis
Now that you have your plan see how viable it is and see if you can take that first step.
See how you can take that plan and use it to make larger infrastructure change.
Use Case
Recently I entered the Cheng Wu innovation challenge and I engaged in Speculative Design when I created Pre-Emt. My idea was using FNIRS caps and heart rate smart watches to help those experiencing addiction to avoid cravings.
Strengths
Speculative design comes to me quite easily because I have a very optimistic outlook on the future. It can be helpful to tell yourself not to worry about what people will think and to do what you want. It really helps you understand what you as a designer are passionate about and if you care about something you are going to do good work.
Weaknesses
As with all futuring methods, speculative design can be hard to convince people that you are doing work and not just playing.
