By: Sabine Reitmaier
Part of State of Responsible Tech 2025, Generative Things
Reitmaier, S. (2025). (Un)making the future: Some Thoughts after Reading ‘The Importance of Speculation in Design Research’. In RIOT 2025, State of Responsible Tech – Generative Things (pp. 92-96). Stichting ThingsCon Amsterdam
https://thingscon.org/publications/riot-2025/riot-2025-unmaking-the-future-some-thoughts-after-reading-the-importance-of-speculation-in-design-research/
Abstact (generated):
This essay reflects on how designers can critically engage with time, futures, and speculation through design practice. Building on The Importance of Speculation in Design Research by Ron Wakkary and Doenja Oogjes, Reitmaier examines how speculative reasoning—characterized by imaginative leaps, ethical reflexivity, and experiential alternatives—can enrich design methodologies. She critiques the dominant use of frameworks like the Futures Cone, which tend to simplify temporality into linear and quantifiable categories, potentially limiting plural and relational understandings of the future. Drawing from critical futures studies, the essay contrasts “future presents” (as imagined end-states) with “present futures” (as active imaginaries shaping the now), advocating for a deeper awareness of how futures are constructed and embedded in present discourse. Through this lens, Reitmaier encourages designers to expand their temporal literacy and adopt speculative practices that question existing conditions, subvert dominant narratives, and support ethical transformation. The piece contributes a critical foundation for design educators, researchers, and practitioners seeking to integrate speculative reasoning into futures-oriented design work.