As more and more products become connected – to each other, to their environments, to us – more and more data are being shared, stored and processed algorithmically. In this workshop, we will use speculative design to imagine and reflect upon how these products are designed, what their implications are, and why they’re necessary or desirable. We will create experiences that playfully immerse people into core ethical theories, using those theories to question and rethink how we design with new technology.

Prerequisites

None

How you’ll learn

This course is built on three core elements – ethics, futurescaping, and new technology – which we’ll use to inspire and ground our creative prototyping. This is a very hands-on course, where we’ll use visualisation, collage, basic mapping, and exploratory prototypes to work through the challenging topic of “ethics.” We will use speculative design and futurescaping methodologies to envision and uncover the unexpected outcomes of products and services, and address their possible, probable and preferable futures. Much of the course’s emphasis, though, will be on building responses and creating prototypes that demonstrate your progression and perspective. In just one week, you will create a series of evocative, imaginative but meaningful prototypes that show your point of view and path through the complexity of ethics, speculation and new tech.

What you’ll learn

• Foundational ethical theories and how they relate to design and technology
• How to create a “provocatype”: a prototype that provokes an ethical reflection
• A broader understanding of the potentials of new technology
• How to map the role of data in connected products and their ecosystems
• How to design for difficult decision-making and speculative world-building
• The application of futurescaping design methods to the challenge of unpredictable outcomes of new technology

What to bring

• Notebook and writing utensils