Post-Futures: A Speculative Design Method Integrating Data Fiction for Design-Futures Education

Designing for the future presents numerous challenges, primarily because the future is inherently uncertain. Factors such as unknown environmental contexts, potential feasibility constraints, and evolving user needs complicate the task of designing for the unknown. Speculative design attempts to envision future worlds and the artifacts that might inhabit them; however, traditional data-based speculations often fall short when addressing long-term futures. This paper elaborates on the concept of data fictions, data that is imagined to exist in future scenarios and emerges from speculative inquiries about potential futures. Through its explanatory role it facilitates speculations on future worlds, where data is unavailable. We propose the application of data fictions through a novel 6-step "Post-Futures Method," an innovative approach for design education that engages with far-fetched future speculations by using science fiction films as a source of data fictions. It guides through identifying signals, recognizing trends, and analyzing this data in order to envision future worlds and the artifacts situated within them. The method was tested during a project in an integrated design bachelor's course in Germany, and this paper will describe the design process and the results. This paper contributes to the ongoing discourse on integrating data into the speculative design process. It proposes a novel strategy for engaging with data in the context of design futures to facilitate future speculations. Thereby it enhances the creativity and foresight in design education and introduces a cumulative approach in design education.