Beyond Forecasting: A Design-inspired Foresight Approach for Preferable Futures

Buhring, Jorn H

This paper engages with the literature to present different perspectives between forecasting
and foresight in strategic design, while drawing insights derived from futures studies that
can be applied in form of a design-inspired foresight approach for designers and
interdisciplinary innovation teams increasingly called upon to help envisage preferable
futures. Demonstrating this process in applied research, relevant examples are drawn from
a 2016 Financial Services industry futures study to the year 2030. While the financial
services industry exemplifies an ideal case for design-inspired foresight, the aims of this
paper are primarily to establish the peculiarities between traditional forecasting
applications and a design-inspired foresight visioning approach as strategic design
activities for selecting preferable futures. Underlining the contribution of this paper is the
value of design futures thinking as a creative and divergent thought process, which has the
potential to respond to the much broader organizational reforms needed to sustain in
today’s rapidly evolving business environment (Buchanan, 2015; Irmak, 2005; Muratovski,
2016).

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