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3 days ago · Design Fiction is a design practice and methodology that combines elements of science fiction, speculative design, and critical thinking to explore possible futures and their implications. It creates fictional but plausible scenarios, products, or services to prompt discussions about the social, cultural, and ethical implications of emerging technologies and potential future developments. Key ...
Jan 3, 2024 · 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 ...
- Introduction
- The Application of Science Fiction
- An Entangled Relationship
- Worldbuilding
- Worldbuilding, Foresight, and Design
- Worldbuilding in Science Fiction
- Borrowing from Science Fiction
- Conclusion
- Notes
- References
Stories are powerful. A story “can be a way for humans to feel that we have control over the world. They allow people to see patterns where there is chaos, meaning where there is randomness. Humans are inclined to see narratives where there are none because they can afford meaning to our lives — a form of existential problem-solving” (Delistraty, 2...
Science fiction holds significant influence over technological innovation and scientific research. For instance, Jules Verne inspired the U.S. Navy’s first submarines and the modern helicopter (Tavakoli-Far, 2013). It was Arthur C. Clarke who first proposed using satellites for global communications in 1945 (Tweney, 2011). Everything from the desir...
At present, “the divide between science fiction and futures studies is neither necessary nor desirable. There is a long history of crossover between the two, with each positively influencing the other” (von Stackelberg & McDowell, 2015, p. 29). It was author H.G. Wells who first called for professors of foresight in 1932 (Wells in Slaughter, 1989, ...
Worldbuilding is the process of constructing a complete and plausible imaginary world that serves as a context for a story. It is “the creation of imaginary worlds with coherent geographic, social, cultural, and other features” (von Stackelberg & McDowell, 2015, p. 32). Worlds “provide detailed contextual rule sets that develop a larger reality tha...
The concept of worldbuilding is embedded within foresight and design practices, albeit to a different extent than it is in science fiction. Notable examples at this intersection include scenario generation, science fiction prototyping, experiential futures, and transition design. Scenario generation has its roots in storytelling. The “RAND Corporat...
In science fiction, worldbuilding is expansive and elaborate, and the outcome is often a high fidelity product such as a novel or film. Unlike foresight and design, which are strategic practices subject to real-world constraints (e.g. client objectives) and resources (e.g. time and money), the worlds of science fiction are a creative endeavor. A wo...
More recently, foresight practitioners and designers are leveraging worldbuilding in new ways. For instance, The Thing From the Future, created by Stuart Candy and Jeff Watson, is a game that prompts “thought-provoking descriptions of hypothetical objects from different near, medium, and long-term futures” (Situation Lab, n.d.). The game may “yield...
The concept of worldbuilding in science fiction marries elements of foresight and design, and offers opportunities to enrich both practices. By understanding the many ways in which science fiction is used throughout society and borrowing from its worldbuilding processes, we may harness new insights on how to design emotionally resonant futures that...
1. Speculative fiction “includes fantasy, science fiction, and horror, but also their derivatives, hybrids, and cognate genres like the gothic, dystopia, weird fiction, post-apocalyptic fiction, ghost stories, superhero tales, alternate history, steampunk, slipstream, magic realism, fractured fairy tales, and more (Oziewicz, 2017). 2. Based on an a...
Anders, C. J. (2013, August 2). 7 deadly sins of worldbuilding. Gizmodo. Retrieved from http://io9.gizmodo.com/7-deadly-sins-of-worldbuilding-998817537 Bassett, C., Steinmueller, E., & Voss, G. (2013). Better Made Up: The Mutual Influence of Science fiction and Innovation. Nesta Working Paper No. 13/07. Retrieved from https://media.nesta.org.uk/doc...
Oct 9, 2020 · Paul Raven’s admirable call for the use of science fiction narratives as a tool for researching energy futures (Raven, 2017) relies heavily on concepts drawn from critical posthumanist Donna Haraway, whose work, sf or otherwise, was not mentioned in any of the 923 responses to the 2016 survey. This may not resonate with a public audience who ...
- Christopher Benjamin Menadue, Kristi Giselsson, David Guez
- 2020
DOI: 10.21606/drs.2016.148. Abstract: Since its inception the term ‘design fiction’ has generated considerable interest as a future-focused method of research through design whose aim is to suspend disbelief about change by depicting prototypes inside diegeses, or ‘story worlds’. Plausibility is one of the key qualities often associated ...
- Paul Coulton, Joseph Lindley, Haider Ali Akmal
- 2016
Feb 20, 2020 · How design fiction is powering the research and development of the world’s most forward-thinking companies. The possibilities and upsides of utilizing futurologists and science fiction writers within big businesses. The most interesting examples of how science fiction created decades ago is shaping our current reality.
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Jan 26, 2018 · The research concludes that the use of science fiction narratives in design, more than a framework, offers a new way of thinking and practicing design - for both investigating fictive worlds, and ...
