Design Fiction: sci-fi as a framework for innovation
Sci-Fi always intrigued audiences. Narratives of a distant future, space encounters, disruptive technologies, societal changes: books and movies with such approaches instigate our curiosity:
What if?…
Based on this, the Design Fiction framework was created as an extrapolation exercise to help us imagine future possibilities that otherwise would remain unexplored.
Although the term ‘Design Fiction’ itself is attributed to science fiction writer Bruce Sterling (2005), the concept comes from a paper written by artist and technologist Julian Bleecker, whose research trajectory goes hand in hand with innovation.
Into the future
The essence behind Design Fiction is to inspire participants out of the world’s current limitations and render tangible representations of what it means to live in a future where a given scenario becomes reality. Those visions will help guide, inform, and shape decision-making.
According to Fabian Girardin, co-founder of the Near Future Lab:
‘Design Fiction doesn’t so much ‘predict’ the future. It is a way to consider the future differently; a way to tell stories about alternatives and unexpected trajectories; a way to discuss a different kind of future than the typical bifurcation into utopian and dystopian.
When running a design session of this type, then, we must get rid of economic, technological, societal — and often logical — reasonings that could somehow refrain us from imagining possibilities. Besides, and even though there are multiple frameworks to support the process — from ludic card decks to academic research techniques –, we can start with a simple prompt:
What will the future of [describe here your context] could look like in 20, 30… 50 years?
It is important, though, that this timeframe represents a future distant enough for great changes to happen, but not so faraway one might feel helpless.
Will the (flying) cars of the future have tires?
This question was the starting point for a Design Fiction session held at Goodyear. While flying cars with (or without) tires won’t have any major impact on most of us, it’s a critical question for a company whose revenue comes mostly from the manufacture and sale of this product. More specifically, it’s worth $4.06 billion today[1] — if fifty years from now will make rubber tires obsolete, Goodyear will face a survivorship dilemma.
Another critical issue is timing: thinking about future possibilities of its current market segment will prepare the company to position itself more appropriately, reorganizing business structures or developing new products and services. For this reason, the company is perfecting its idea for the future of urban mobility, the Aero.
Other companies, such as Toyota and Pepsi, are also looking years ahead with Design Fiction. The first prototyped a car capable of 6,000+ miles of road autonomy that could be used to transport cargo and people over … the Moon! The latter ponders a world without plastic bottles.
Although the hypotheses and ideas raised in these sessions may not become real products, the exercise itself fosters new perspectives, engaging and empowering participants to co-create the future. After all, technological transformations have happened so fast that it is virtually impossible for R&D areas to manage the innovation process alone.
Whatever the outcome, Design Fiction allows us to travel to future scenarios and reflect on what we wish our tomorrow to look like. And then take the necessary steps to make it more probable.
Exploring a universe of possibilities
The future is no longer understood as a singular possibility: we use its plural version, ‘futures,’ to indicate the myriad of scenarios that can emerge. In this context, we can, through Design Fiction, speculate on alternatives to gain knowledge and direction. (Lest we forget technologies seen in the world of science fiction have already been transposed to the real world several times).
The workshop, therefore, can be based on:
- The discovery of technologies (e.g., underwater means of transport with a capacity for hundreds of people and a speed equal to or greater than that of current aircraft).
- The study of behaviors (e.g., how the set of gestures we use today to interact with smartphones will influence our relationship with other devices in expanded IoT environments).
- Visions of the future (e.g., future of mobility; future of education).
- Enhancement of existing products and services (e.g.: new ways of using a wallet, considering the complete digitization of payment methods).
- Among many other possibilities
Next sci-fi storyline
The outcome of a Design Fiction session, according to the context, can be futuristic ideas such as:
- Science Fiction scripts, as if described for a movie plot.
- Prototypes of an innovative technology, product, or service, using common objects that represent them, even if as an MVP (minimum viable product).
- Behavioral experiments;
- Videos, short films or presentations.
- Role-playing.
- Newspapers or television programs reporting on the upcoming event.
- Catalogs detailing new ways of using an existing / new product, and so forth.
Keep in mind that the goal in this exercise is much more than representing the future. It is a powerful way of provoking ideas and transforming them into living elements.
Further readings:
- Bleecker, J. (2009). Design Fiction: a short essay on design, science, fact, and fiction.
- Dunne, A. & Raby, F. (2013). Speculative everything: design, fiction, and social dreaming. MIT Press.
- Girardin, F. (2015). Our approach of Design Fiction.
- Goodyear Tires [Video]. (2019). Goodyear Aero — A two-in-one tire for the autonomous, flying cars of the future.
- Kirby, D. A. (2011). Lab coats in Hollywood: science, scientists, and cinema. MIT Press.
- REC Anything [Video]. (2020). Toyota Lunar Cruiser: the 1st Toyota moon rover is here.
- Smith, S. & Ashby, M. (2020). How to future: leading and sense-making in an age of hyperchange. Koan Page.
- Zuin, L. (2021). Decolonizing futures: watch the panel and check the shared references. World Futures Day @Envisioning.
— -
Footnote:
[1] Goodyear’s market value on NYSE (reference: Jan 1st, 2024.)
