Principles
inferred from E. v Zeeland article here
Cultivating radical empathy
Speculative Design encourages the use of critical imagination to explore and question the implications of new technologies, social changes, and emergences. It invites designers to envision diverse, often unconventional, futures.
Radical (re)imagination and delinking
Speculative Design aims to provoke discussions, by challenging capitalistic approach to design that aims at creating solutions for monetary benefit. It presents a "what if?" approach, pushing boundaries and challenging the status quo.
Employing narratives
Speculative Design encourages the use of critical imagination to explore and question the implications of new technologies, social changes, and emergences. It invites designers to envision diverse, often unconventional, futures.
Utilising mapping, visual thinking and bodily expressions
Speculative Design encourages the use of critical imagination to explore and question the implications of new technologies, social changes, and emergences. It invites designers to envision diverse, often unconventional, futures.
Embracing participatory approach
Speculative Design encourages the use of critical imagination to explore and question the implications of new technologies, social changes, and emergences. It invites designers to envision diverse, often unconventional, futures.
Harnessing knowledge
Speculative Design encourages the use of critical imagination to explore and question the implications of new technologies, social changes, and emergences. It invites designers to envision diverse, often unconventional, futures.
DISCOVER NEW ACTANTS
The term “actant” was incorporated in the influential works of sociologist Bruno Latour. In his Actor-Network Theory (ANT), Latour proposes to look at the world where everything, social and natural, human and non-humans, exists in a continuously shifting network of relationships. Through this lens, there is not exactly a central focus or locus, but rather networks that interconnect surrounding the actants.
Latour’s theory is especially helpful for designers in redefining the concept of actors and their agencies within the design process. It prompts us to reconsider who plays what roles and wields influence throughout both the design journey and the resulting cumulative outcomes. In such a view, animals, plants, geological resources, and other nonhumans could be design actants — capable of creating, influencing, and breaking the designed networks of relationships.
More diverse humans
Broaden your perspective by inclusively defining the target audience. To disrupt the repeating cycle, embrace diverse cultural and socio-economic backgrounds, values, and viewpoints.
Non-humans
Design is shaped by non-human elements, from landscapes to digital files, influencing spatial and temporal contexts. Acknowledging these actants empowers designers to anticipate impacts and recognise the value beyond monetary considerations.
The design process
Work with the design process, perceive it not as a rigid structure but as a dynamic entity with its own movement, entwined in ever-shifting temporal and local circumstances. Observe, recognise, and partner with the design process to enable it to evolve purposefully.