Speculative Design as a Collaborative Practice: Ameliorating the Consequences of Illiteracy through Digital Touch

Arising from the complex relationship between their physical affordances, digital shadows, and interconnections, the things which make up the ‘Internet of Things’ (the IoT) present designers, users, and society at large, with a range of unique and as-yet-unfamiliar forms of network-contingent agency. These new design spaces engender new forms network anxiety, that in turn can result in a range of ill effects including overstimulation, information overload, and paranoia. Contemporary philosophies of technology provide a theoretical base with which designers can temper these emergent techno-anxieties with a sort of scholarly comfort blanket, however, closing the loop between such theories and design practice so that one explicitly informs the other remains a rarely-tackled and elusive challenge within design research. To help explore how designers may underpin their practice with philosophical foundations, in this paper we recount our own experience of conducting an IoT-based Speculative Design project. This research attempts to encode, enact, and express ideas derived from a contemporary philosophical movement—Object Oriented Ontology (OOO)—and ‘Carpenter’ those ideas into designed artefacts using the Design Fiction as World Building approach to Speculative Design. To ‘turn’ a physical material—wood, metal or plastic—means reshaping the material with a lathe to afford it a tangible elegance and grace. Metaphorically speaking, in this paper, OOO is our material and Design Fiction is our lathe, we reflect on the process of sculpting and carving theory, lending shape and poise to OOO through Design Fiction enabled Carpentry

This work open up a conversation about the opportunities that Science Fiction offers to Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) and Design research. In doing so, first, it briefly challenges the term Design Fiction, an emerging concept with increasing popularity in HCI and Design research. Design Fictions are either, manifest design propositions, or intangible, imagined future interfaces, speculative interactions and would-be environments. Design Fictions as useful as they are, however, are not necessarily something new nor innovative in themselves. Speculative design and evaluation methods all have been staple methods of Computer Science research since the establishment of HCI as a discrete field sometime in the 1980s. Second, the paper proceeds to propose that the domain of Science Fiction could not only be useful, but rightly considered, as a legitimate field of creative inquire in HCI and Design education. By reframing the notion of Science Fiction from an ‘anecdotal gimmick’ toward an ‘area of study’ a novel, wide-ranging space for design inspiration, ingenuity and creativity opens up for conceptual exploration. We believe that such an elevation of Science Fiction as a serious research topic has strong potential to inform the Computer Science, HCI and Design research application and education endeavours of the future.KeywordsComputer science research and educationDesign FictionSpeculative future studiesPopular culture in scienceScience Fiction

Abstract: This article explores the potential of speculative methodologies to help reimagine and reenergize elements of healthcare and hospital design. It examines the intellectual and clinical heritages of bricolage in French thought, before mobilizing dialogues between bricolage and speculative design methodologies, such as design fiction. A cross-fertilization of bricolage and speculative design, we propose, opens up creative, playful, and critical spaces for the reappropriation of the material assemblages of healthcare environments. Whereas bricolage is often conceived of as an emergency 'make-do' measure, we propose that bricolage , brought into contact with speculative design methods, can deliver pragmatic tools for reimagining healthcare futures.

114What kind of robots do we want to live with in the future? Which ones do we not want? How will robots affect our everyday lives? What will be the consequences of our coexistence with them? Roboticists tend to focus on the product design of the robot, its exact configuration, and its technical implementation; rarely is any thought given to the far-reaching social consequences that might arise when a robot actually becomes part of our lives. So, this contribution is about how design can be used to imagine, visualize, and experience possible futures with the robots we want (or do not want). The authors introduce the design practices of Speculative Design and Design Fiction, discussing their practical applications and potential in the field of robotics. The authors offer several examples of Design Fiction projects that illustrate the use and utility of Speculative Design practices for robotic developers, researchers, and laypeople to discuss how the future of robots can be actively shaped through imagination and design. They then present a concrete tool for roboticists: A Design Fiction robot workshop where participants slip into the roles of various stakeholders to speculate about the future of mundane life with robots.

Rapid technological progression results in exciting new ways of interacting with our world whilst simultaneously limiting our experiences. Due to the pervasiveness of emerging technologies, designers are constantly faced with complexities and challenges, which necessitate the use of various tools and methodologies. This paper combines inspiration from the fields of aesthetics of interaction (Overbeek 1999), somaesthetics (Shusterman, 1999), design ethnography (Salvador, 1999), design fiction (Bleecker, 2009) and speculative design (Auger, 2013), to explore a designerly way of overcoming the complexity of implementing technologies into our daily life. We propose a holistic design approach to envision possibilities for emerging technology, integrating the physicality of human bodies with technological materiality. Further, we present a plausible narrative, containing visionary aspects and the investigated methodologies, alongside a series of design concepts that drive the storyline and form the basis for examining social implications, design and future contexts, and improving the way in which designers handle the limitations of a technology driven design approach.

While public appreciation is vital to technological inventions, the ramifications of these inventions remain extremely difficult to predict. This paper presents an original design fiction methodology intended to encourage public reflection on potential ramifications and desirable outcomes of technological advances. The paper first examines the theoretical considerations underpinning the methodology, including those from innovation theory, science and technology studies and design research. Next, it presents the approach using a case study of the public display of design fiction. The paper concludes with promising areas for future study.

The storytelling lens in human-computer interaction has primarily focused on personas, design fiction, and other stories crafted by designers, yet informal personal narratives from everyday people have not been considered meaningful data, such as storytelling from older adults. Storytelling may provide a clear path to conceptualize how technologies such as social robots can support the lives of older or disabled individuals. To explore this, we engaged 28 older adults in a year-long co-design process, examining informal stories told by older adults as a means of generating and expressing technology ideas and needs. This paper presents an analysis of participants’ stories around their prior experience with technology, stories shaped by social context, and speculative scenarios for the future of social robots. From this analysis, we present suggestions for social robot design, considerations of older adults’ values around technology design, and promotion of participant stories as sources for design knowledge and shifting perspectives of older adults and technology.

In this chapter we analyze the rhetorical work of speculative design methods to advance third wave agendas in HCI. We contrast the history of speculative design that is often cited in HCI papers from the mid 2000s onward that frames speculative design as a critical methodological intervention in HCI linked to radical art practice and critical theory, with the history of how speculative design was introduced to HCI publications through corporate design research initiatives from the RED group at Xerox PARC. Our argument is that third wave, critically oriented, speculative design “works” in HCI because it is highly compatible with other forms of conventional corporate speculation (e.g. concept videos and scenario planning). This reading of speculative design re-centers the “criticality” from the method itself to its ability to advance agendas that challenge dominant practices in technology design. We will look at how practitioners trade on the rhetorical ambiguity of future oriented design practices to introduce these ideas in contexts where they may not otherwise have much purchase. Our chapter concludes with a call for critically oriented practitioners in this space to share their experiences navigating speculative design ambiguity and to document the disciplinary history of the method’s development.

The article positions the author's work as speculative design but—like the term design fictions—is open to several interpretations. How is the fictional character of such work conceptualised and produced? What kinds of speculation are involved? The article considers the value of one particular approach and argues that speculative design serves two distinct purposes: first, to enable us to think about the future; second, to critique current practice. Methods are described through case studies, either of the author's own projects or projects completed by graduates of the design interactions course at the Royal College of Art. A key concept is the ‘perceptual bridge’—the means by which designs engage their audience. The article argues that a vital factor in the success of a Speculative Design proposal is the careful management of the speculation, specifically what informs the use of technology, aesthetics, behaviour, interaction and function of the designed artefact.

Regional identity is a constant construction, in which landscape, human activity and cultural imaginary build a narrative of place. For the Tasmanian Midlands, the interactions between history, ecology and agriculture both define place and present problems in how to recognise, communicate and balance these interactions. In this sense, regionality is defined not so much as a relation of margin to centre, but as a specific accretion of environmental and cultural histories. According weight to more-than-human perspectives, a region can be seen as a constellation of plant, animal and human interactions and demands, where creative art and design can make space and give voice to the dynamics of exchange between the landscape and its inhabitants. Consideration of three recent art and design projects based in the Midlands reveal the potential for cross-disciplinary research, embedded in both environment and community, to create distinctive and specific forms of connectivity that articulate a regional identify.

Welcome to the Peoples of the Mountains and the Sea: Evaluating an Inaugural Indigenous Cultural Festival

With the continuous improvement of China’s comprehensive national strength and the improvement of the level of social and economic development, people’s demand for science and technology is more urgent. In recent years, with the rapid development of information technology, computer technology has been gradually applied to art design. With the continuous popularization of technology, the role of this technology in the field of art has been gradually enhanced. This paper mainly analyzes and studies the positioning of computer technology in art design, the influence of computer technology on art design, and the application of this technology in art design. Therefore, it is recognized that the application of computer technology has brought new development vitality to the art design industry. Computer technology not only improves the limitation of traditional art design and production, but also helps the development of innovative art design industry. Through the research on the application of computer technology in art design, it is hoped that the relevant professional designers can further develop the application of computer technology in the field of art design and realize the qualitative leap of art design level.

This investigation represents an attempt to illuminate issues in the relationship between shared learning, aspects of organizational climate, teamwork practices and inter-personal contact between health professionals. The study, completed in 1998 and conducted over the previous 3 years, involved 57 post-qualified health professionals undertaking a part-time 'top-up' degree in health studies. The extent to which climate promoted, maintained or inhibited collaborative practices was considered by examining the views and experiences of course participants over three successive years. Most interest in collaborative practice came from individuals already actively engaged in multidisciplinary work and with a clear sense of role within that context. No evidence was found to associate this form of shared learning with new or enhanced collaborative activity, but nearly all the professions involved accepted the principle of more flexible forms of working. Poor perceptions between disciplines were associated with low levels of contact in the workplace. Students who undertook a module focusing on collaborative practice had more positive perceptions about their work and were less likely to emphasize work demands in terms of shift-patterns, fatigue and/or stress.

The article explores the challenges and methodologies involved in teaching speech activities in English to students specializing in International Law at the School of Law. Theproblems are further complicated by the conditions of distance learning, which, on the one hand, exacerbate the teaching process, but on the other hand, offer facilitation as distance learning, by its nature, enhances interaction between students and teachers, granting flexibility in terms of both spatial and temporal dimensions. Among the many means of communication utilized, Zoom stands out as a prominent service for organizing online classes. The key factor in optimizing language skills is the use of a student-centered model. The current level of development of students’ speaking skills in the target language does not meet modern educational requirements, which emphasizes the relevance of this issue. In the era of globalization, the main goal of teaching English is not just to master the language system or gain linguistic knowledge, but to master it as a means ofcommunication. Creating favorable conditions for the development of students’ communicative skills in a foreign language is one of the main tasks of the teacher. By recreating circumstances that are similar to those when native speakers acquire native language skills, students can immerse themselves in a similar environment, and this will contribute to the effective development of their speech skills. Law students specializing in international law should have the communicative competence that will allow them to communicate effectively with both native speakers and people who use the language as a communication tool. In the absence of a natural language environment, teachers should build the educational process in accordance with a reasonably constructed model of educational and professional communication. A prerequisite for the creative use of the acquired language and speech material is communicative orientation in the process of teaching a foreign language.

Traditional linear models of human communication inadequately address emotional and social dynamics in everyday contexts. This study explores speculative futures of interpersonal communication through research through design (RtD) paradigm, integrating participatory co-creation, speculative design, role-playing, and Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI). Situated within the socio-cultural context of China’s one-child generation in the Greater Bay Area (GBA), the research transcends linear transmission metaphors in existing information communication technologies (ICTs) to address subtle interpersonal needs among friends. The study adopts a three-phase methodology, including a co-design workshop to generate speculative scenarios, designer-AI collaboration to refine scenarios, and a role- playing session to generate collective narratives, to reveal participants’ desires for togetherness, trust, and multi-sensory presence, alongside expectations for innovative experiences of communication and preserving shared memories with friends in diverse settings. Research findings highlight participants’ desires for trust, togetherness, and multi-sensory communication, alongside innovative approaches to preserving shared memories. While GenAI facilitated accelerated visualisation and narrative coherence, challenges such as content deviations and the need for iterative refinement underscored the essential role of designers in guiding the creative process. Limitations related to participant engagement and the speculative timeframe were also identified. The study contributes a scalable, culturally grounded co- creation methodology that advances the Research through Design paradigm. Future research should explore ways to enhance immersion, optimise human-AI collaboration workflows, and assess the long- term impacts of co-creation practices, extending this framework to address broader socio-technical and cultural challenges.