Shaping futures - also known as design futuring - is a young field of activity for designers. With the means of design, creative people sketch and negotiate different (desirable) futures. Because there is no one seemingly inevitable future.
This book is a launch pad. The methods and tools presented open up a new field of activity and a new role for designers with more relevance. From now on, they design more than surfaces and interfaces - and in the best-case scenario, they will become designers of a better world.
What I like about it:
A lot of methods to explore, sort, evaluate and get a common understanding for future scenarios. I like especially the differentiation for future scenarios, you always should ask before starting. What are you looking for? Is it..
- Innovation - real new product or business case you want to launch to the market
- Speculation - show desirable futures and make them discussable
- Criticism - show what can go wrong in the future, if operative business continues as before