At mct, we have been providing comprehensive futures design support to companies across diverse industries, including pharmaceuticals, electric household appliances, personal care, health, and beauty. In today’s rapidly evolving landscape, enterprises must possess the capacity to envision potential futures in order to effectively navigate uncertainty and ambiguity.
We understand the importance of helping organizations develop forward-thinking strategies. By leveraging futures thinking tools and approach in combination with methods and mindsets from design process, we empower businesses to anticipate emerging trends, envision alternative scenarios, and proactively shape their desired future.
In this series, we will delve into the Futures Research and Design practices and explore key tools such as scanning signals of change, futures wheel, and future scenarios. We will demonstrate how to use these powerful tools can assist businesses in seizing opportunities and successfully navigating the uncharted territory of the future.
Futures Design
Futures Design is an approach to strategic foresight that involves exploring multiple potential future scenarios. Its purpose is to assist organizations in making informed decisions in the present and shaping a more desirable tomorrow.
Futures Design is not about predicting the future. Instead, it can be likened to using a map before embarking on a journey. Similar to how a map helps in planning a route, anticipating obstacles, and making decisions on navigating the terrain, futures thinking provides a framework for considering various possibilities and preparing for the uncertainties ahead.
Instead of predicting the future, in Futures Design we envision multiple possible futures, choose the future ourselves, and formulate visions and strategies based on the business opportunities that exist.
Our Applied Futures Design
Design Thinking concentrates on addressing immediate design problems, while Futures Thinking revolves around exploring and envisioning a range of possible futures. By comprehending these distinctions, businesses can choose the most suitable approach for a given problem and effectively combine both methods to create holistic solutions that account for the future.
At mct, we leverages the combined expertise of Design Thinking and Futures Thinking in its Futures Design process to envision innovative products of the future. The process begins with in-depth research on trends and signals of change, which forms the foundation for developing scenarios that explore various perspectives and potential futures. These scenarios are subsequently validated and evaluated through ideation and conceptual prototyping. Through iterative refinement, the scenarios can be further developed and utilized in back-casting activities, creating the futures strategic technologies and products roadmap.
● Scanning Trends & Signals: Seek for signals of change or indicators of potential futures.
● Futures Scenarios: Identifying key change drivers and imagine alternative futures.
● Idea & Concept Vision: Developing ideas and concepts focusing on preferred futures.
● Backcasting: Developing the roadmap needed to achieve that vision and goal towards today.
These steps collectively offer a comprehensive and robust approach to Futures Design, enabling companies to effectively navigate the uncertainties of the future and generate actionable outcomes beginning today.
Futures Design for A Better Tomorrow
I firmly believe that embracing the transformative power of Futures Thinking is paramount for businesses striving to remain at the forefront and make a meaningful impact through design. The Futures Design Thinking mindset and approach propel us to transcend the limits of the present and envision the futures we want to see.
By consistently challenging ourselves with this forward-thinking approach, we are dedicated to providing support to our clients in shaping better futures for individuals, businesses, and our planet. Together, let’s embark on this journey of innovation and collaboration, driving positive change and creating better futures for generations to come.
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