Lecture slides from a workshop on applied futuring techniques at the 2018 IxDA Education Summit, presented by Alex Wright and Erica Dorn.

14. IxD practice is at a crossroads

16. The Thing From the Future

23. Pragmatic
Building competitive advantage within a business or industry (e.g., new markets,
competitive landscape technological innovation)
Progressive
Transforming industries and processes through a wider systems-level lens (e.g.,
environmental impact, policy considerations)
Civilizational
Re-conceptualizing society as a whole, to change patterns and trajectories of
human behavior towards more sustainable long-term futures
Three modes of forecasting

24. Dimensions of foresight
Distance Diversity Depth
The passage of time The range of possible outcomes The experiential details

25. Dimensions of foresight
Distance Diversity Depth
The passage of time The range of possible outcomes The experiential details

26. The “cone of uncertainty”

27. Experiential futuring

31. Scenario planning

32. Environmental Scanning
Looking for observable trends, or “evidence of the future”
For example:
● Consumers are spending less money on clothing, but more per individual item
● Older people are staying active later in life
● New materials resulting from nanotechnology
● Shift of wealth creation from traditional industries to knowledge economies
● Rising influence of transnational corporations

33. Scenario planning

34. Internet shipping scenario
Heedless
consumption
High-carbon
shipping
Carbon
neutrality
Conscious
consumption

35. Let’s try it!

37. Values mapping

38. “Meaningfulness is more likely to thrive when employees
understand the broad purpose of the organization. This
purpose should be formulated in such a way that it focuses
on the positive contribution of the organization to the
wider society or the environment.”
MIT: What Makes Work Meaningful - Or Meaningless

39. What makes work “meaningful”?
Self-transcendent
Doing work that matters to others
more than just to oneself
Poignant
Produces a sense of euphoria that arises
from overcoming difficult challenges
Episodic
A succession of “peak moments”
rather than sustained engagement
Reflective
Typically understood and realized
only in retrospect
Personal
Experienced in context of broader
life experiences

40. Values mapping
Using the slips provided, select a list of five personal values that seem important
to you. Now, narrow it down to one.
Individually, sketch what it would mean for you personally to realize this value in
your work and life
In groups of two, mash up your values and see what emerges.
Try to think at least five years out and reflect on how your values might manifest in
the wider world? What’s the range of possible outcomes?

41. Reflections

42. Environmental scanning
Analysis
Interpretation
Scenario planning
Artifacts
Identifying visible signs of the future
(primary research, market intelligence)
Trends, issues, themes
Deep drivers and unmet needs
Tangible representations that
bring those futures to life
Building blocks
Identifying a range of possible
future states