1. Speculative design
in Government
APDIG, House of Lords

2. Intro to Lab &
our approach
What is Policy Lab?
We are a creative space where
policy teams can develop the
skills and knowledge to develop
policy in a more open, digital
and user-centred way.
No physical office, “pop up”
concept; we go to the policy
makers.
@PolicyLabUK

3. Design ethnography
Customer journey mapping
Service safaris
Personas
Co-design
Rapid prototyping
Experience prototyping
Data visualisation
Storyboarding
Service blueprints
Tools & Techniques

4. Design ethnography
Tools & Techniques
Discover: User’s experience

5. Sankey diagram
Tools & Techniques
Discover: Data science
People who self-describe as being long term sick or disabled
Y1 Y2 Y3 Y4

6. Rapid prototyping
Tools & Techniques
Develop: Prototype

7. Where we are
On the edge
We experiment here. If
they work we bring them
into government and then
try to increase their use in
departments…

8. Probably, plausible, possible, preferable
Speculative Design
“It is always about trying to pin
the future down. This is
something we are absolutely
not interested in… In our view,
it is a pointless activity. What
we are interested in, though, is
the idea of possible futures and
using them as tools to better
understand the present and to
discuss the kind of future
people want, and of course,
ones people don’t want.”
Dunne & Raby (2013)
Speculative Everything

9. Gaming Internet of Things objects to re-gain control
Speculative DesignExample 1
Uninvited guests, Superflux

10. Synthetic biology foraging devices
Speculative DesignExample 2
Design for an overpopulated planet
Dunne & Raby

11. 30 year break clauses in family relations
Speculative DesignExample 3
When we all live to 150, Jaemin Paik

12. algorithmic facial detection for shopping
Speculative DesignExample 4
Belief Systems, Bernt Hopfengaertner

13. algorithmic facial detection for shopping
Speculative DesignSpeculative design
A natural progression?
1. Requires abductive reasoning. Jump out
to new alternatives and test your way back
2. Requires multi-disciplinary teams.
Reach out to bring in new perspectives
3. Requires physical things. Make the thing,
make it ambiguous and get multiple
responses.

14. Dave Snowden, Cognitive Edge
Speculative DesignAbductive reasoning
A natural progression?
http://cognitive-edge.com/resources/videos/

15. Speculative DesignSpeculative design
Challenges for Government
1. Need to relate to evidence and possible
paths to the future. This is not fantasy.
2. Need to set expectation that this is not
prediction.
3. Need to have time to step back, imagine
and follow things through to the logical
conclusion.

16. Speculative design
for Government
APDIG, House of Lords