Design for the Speculative Future as a Knowledge Source

Fangzhou Dong*, Sara Sterling, Yuzhen Li, Xiaohui Li

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Chapter in Book or Report/Conference proceedingConference Proceedingpeer-review

Abstract

Design for the speculative future, as one genre of cultural design, aims at nudging cultural changes through posing questions and arousing discussions. As cultural changes are large-scale and long-term processes, this paper examines the values of design for the speculative future from the designers’ perspective in a relatively short term. Design for the speculative future is practiced in two student studios under the topic of Chinese wedding culture, and its values are summarized based on interviews of studio participants and theoretical analysis. It is argued that design for the speculative future acts as a knowledge source for designers to both understand cultural components and adopt a design and critical mindset. The anthropological research of the design topic, as well as the design project communication with broader audiences, offer an opportunity for the designers to understand the cultural components in detail and from multiple perspectives. Tools, approaches, and techniques practiced in design for the speculative future are able to be utilized in other forms of design activities. The critical implications embedded in design for the speculative future encourages designers to critically evaluate their own skill sets and other design projects.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationCross-Cultural Design. Experience and Product Design Across Cultures - 13th International Conference, CCD 2021, Held as Part of the 23rd HCI International Conference, HCII 2021, Proceedings
EditorsPei-Luen Patrick Rau
PublisherSpringer Science and Business Media Deutschland GmbH
Pages49-61
Number of pages13
ISBN (Print)9783030770730
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2021
Event13th International Conference on Cross-Cultural Design, CCD 2021, Held as Part of the 23rd HCI International Conference, HCII 2021 - Virtual, Online
Duration: 24 Jul 202129 Jul 2021

Publication series

NameLecture Notes in Computer Science (including subseries Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence and Lecture Notes in Bioinformatics)
Volume12771 LNCS
ISSN (Print)0302-9743
ISSN (Electronic)1611-3349

Conference

Conference13th International Conference on Cross-Cultural Design, CCD 2021, Held as Part of the 23rd HCI International Conference, HCII 2021
CityVirtual, Online
Period24/07/2129/07/21

Keywords

  • Critical
  • Cultural design
  • Design for future
  • Design tools
  • Knowledge source

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