Envisioning Technological Artefacts Through Anticipatory Scenarios and Diegetic Prototypes

Abstract

Facing global challenges and managing technological and scientific development require to imply critical reflection at all levels of transformation to create more thriving societies. This paper addresses the issues behind designing in complex societies. It introduces a novel approach to generate scenarios, envision, and contextualise the not-yet-existing technological artefacts through storytelling and prototyping, to anticipate the possible ethical and societal implications of technological development and mediations in social-human-environment-technology assemblages and interactions. The authors describe the critical approach with the Protocol for designing consciously and an Envisioning tool exploiting the Science Fiction (Sci-Fi) films as a trigger for critical discussion among the design researchers and practitioners. The Protocol and Envisioning tool aim at supporting the design researchers and practitioners adopt pluriversal perspectives and deal with the complexity, to deliver consciously designed artefacts. In this paper, authors show how the critical approach can be implemented in design and research projects and discuss the benefits and purposes of introducing such an approach in the current design research and practice.