Stakeholder identification through participatory and speculative design: A case study

As organizations face increasingly complex and shifting stakeholder landscapes, innovative methods are needed to identify and engage with both present and future stakeholders. This article explores the integration of participatory and speculative design approaches for stakeholder identification. Our case study was conducted within an international organization focused on intellectual property protection, and it addressed a critical organizational task: Identifying actual and potential stakeholders. Traditional top-down approaches to stakeholder identification were found to be limiting due to the evolving nature of stakeholder relationships. Therefore, we proposed a design-led approach that involved participatory workshops and speculative thinking, empowering the organization to maintain a dynamic stakeholder list in the future. The project involved interviews with key staff, participatory workshops to identify and prioritize values, and a speculative approach – the Stakeholder Mapping Cone – to identify stakeholders and predict their future impact. By combining the creativity of speculative design with the inclusivity of participatory methods, the project allowed the organization to identify existing stakeholders and envision potential future stakeholders. This research demonstrates that speculative and participatory design are viable methods for stakeholder identification, offering innovative approaches that challenge conventional strategies and empower organizations to adapt to future challenges. It also introduces the need to explore how speculative design can evolve into operative speculative design thinking.