Futures by Design
summary
Designers act as futurists and use three concrete lenses—storytelling, speculative design, systems thinking—to turn uncertainty into actionable scenarios: a 2x2 four‑futures matrix, live role‑play with actors (Hawai‘i citizens), design‑fiction artifacts like animal‑parliament letters and badges, horizon scans and “look back twice as long” historical patterning. A student cohort shows ~50% rise in optimism and agency after practicing these tools. The guiding stance is urgent optimism, paired with empathy and counterfactual “what if” prototyping.
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chapters (14)
- 0:00Introduction and welcome
- 1:58Why design for the future
- 3:23Futurist misconceptions
- 5:30Future through storytelling
- 10:04Four images of the future
- 13:37Speculative design explained
- 16:47Future is selfless
- 18:54System thinking basics
- 22:44Predicting future patterns
- 25:54Recap of three truths
- 26:16Jeff Bezos’ insight
- 28:03Future as mental exercise
- 29:27Urgent optimism needed
- 32:38Q&A session
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