Design fiction is defined as “an approach to design that speculates about new ideas through prototyping and storytelling”. What it really is is professional dreaming.
For the clueless, Sterling included a super cool example of design fiction:
Corning – A Day Made of Glass from WESTERNIZED Productions on Vimeo.
It reminds me of the Iron Man movies with Tony Stark throwing virtual screens in the air.
(Image: GeekTyrant)
My classmate Dana also mentioned Google Glass as a form of design fiction. In fact, her lucky friend in New York managed to try it on! How cool is that? It’s not hard to imagine a future where everyone has these “glasses” on. However, The Drum reports 68% of people would be too embarrassed to wear Google Glass in public. These skeptics! I’m sure they will realize the folly of their ways soon enough.
(Image: SMH)
I agree with the readings – design fiction is indeed a fantastic way to recycle ideas. The sheer amount that gets binned is probably enough to tile every house in the world. So, I really advocate keeping a “creative” journal for you to spill your thoughts, ideas and whatever not. Not only does it help keep those creative juices flowing, it makes a good backlog for you to refer to whenever you need a pinch of inspiration!
(Now all I have to do is take my own advice…)