For this impulse I read the academic paper “A systematic literature review of the speculative design process and a proposed framework for speculative design” published in the Design Science Journal in 2025.
The aim of the paper is a systematic literature review of 52 studies to clarify the methodological foundations of speculative design across various fields, including healthcare, AI, and urban planning.
ANOTHER DIAMOND!
The authors identify a recurring four-phase process throughout the papers and propose an adapation of the oh-so-loved Double Diamond: the Inverted Double-Diamond Framework with the phases select, explore, transform, and provoke.
While the paper acknowledges that speculative design has been practiced for decades, it presents the Inverted Double-Diamond Framework as a new tool for “communicating the core of speculative design” and establishing a shared conceptual foundation for the field.
1. Select (Convergent Thinking)
The goal of this initial phase is selection for speculation: identifying and reframing complex, hidden, or emerging challenges. Designers focus on narrowing down broad topics of concern into a specific issue that will anchor the rest of the process. This may involve:
- Projecting potential issues from existing systems if current values persist.
- Understanding current issues through stakeholder discussions or data reviews.
- Asking future-oriented “what if” questions about emerging technologies.
2. Explore (Divergent Thinking)
The speculative exploration phase involves the imaginative generation of reality-alternative scenarios. It encourages thinking beyond the constraints of the present to consider “what the future could be”. Common methods include:
- Scenario-building techniques to situate abstract concepts in a plausible future world.
- The “cone of possibilities” model, which categorises futures as probable, plausible, possible, or preferable.
- Contrasting utopian and dystopian futures to reveal tensions between empowerment and control.
3. Transform (Convergent Thinking)
In the speculative transformation phase, abstract concepts from the exploration phase are translated into tangible representations. This phase focuses on selecting and refining ideas to create “probes” that bridge imagined realities with the present. Key outputs include:
- Prototypes: These can range from low-fidelity models made of everyday materials to polished, high-fidelity physical artefacts.
- Fictional Narratives: Stories, audiovisual formats (videos, audio), or printed materials (catalogues, posters) that provide social context and make the speculative world more relatable.
4. Provoke (Divergent Thinking)
The final phase, speculative provocation, uses the developed prototypes and narratives to stimulate critical dialogue, debate, and reflection. The goal is to challenge ingrained assumptions and encourage the audience to think about the ethical and societal implications of potential futures. Methods for provocation include:
- Group discussions and debates structured around opposing viewpoints.
- Individual reflection activities and qualitative interviews.
- Public exhibitions where audiences engage with the artefacts not as products for consumption, but as prompts for active imagination
Healthcare and speculative design
By shifting the focus from commercial production to social and ethical implications, speculative design in healthcare allows researchers to bridge the gap between current medical realities and the consequences of future technological trajectories.
The paper identifies healthcare as one of the primary academic disciplines where speculative design is frequently applied to explore the complexities of contemporary challenges. Rather than focusing on immediate medical solutions, speculative design in this field is used to anticipate emerging needs, ethical dilemmas, and the social implications of future medical technologies.
The paper highlights several specific studies and prototypes that illustrate how speculative design functions within a healthcare context, for example a publication where Zolyomi and Snyder (2024) engaged neurodiverse dyads in a speculative design process to create an “emotion translator,” using low-fidelity prototypes to materialise their ideas.
Source
Cardenas Cordova, D., Kelly, N., & Rezayan, L. (2025). A systematic literature review of the speculative design process and a proposed framework for speculative design. Design Science, 11, e38. doi:10.1017/dsj.2025.10030
