ABOUT
DIVE
DIVE, as a speculative design technique, can be useful for exploring the future at various scales, from people to territories to organizations.
Ricardo Mejía developed DIVE 1.0 [1] to increase innovation in small and medium-sized enterprises along the creation and use of experimental artifacts. Later, Ricardo developed a new version of the technique, DIVE 2.0 [2], extending its scope to communities and organizations (public, civil society, mixed, and private). The digital version of DIVE, DIVE 3.0 [3], consolidates its scope at three scales: people, organizations, and territories.
DIVE 1.0
[1] DIVE 1.0 was born from Ricardo’s doctoral research at the Delft University of Technology, the Netherlands, under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Pieter Jan Stappers and Prof. Dr. Erik Jan Hultink, and the academic guidance of Dr. Gert Pasman; this research was funded by Colciencias, now the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation of Colombia.
DIVE 2.0
[2] DIVE 2.0 was created within the framework of Ricardo’s venture, rrebrand Latin America, a design consultancy that facilitates participatory processes to help organizations and communities innovate with purpose, and in his role as a professor at the Universidad de los Andes.
DIVE 3.0
[3] DIVE 3.0 consolidates the previous versions during Ricardo’s postdoctoral stay at the Corporation of Science and Technology for the Development of the Naval, Maritime, and River Industry (COTECMAR), with the support of the R+D+i Division as well as the Design and Engineering Division and the supervision of Henry Murcia, Viviana Barrios, and Walter Osorio; this research was funded by the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation of Colombia.
This digital version of DIVE consists of a set of techniques that propose rapid immersions in speculative futures and a return to the surface, back to the world as it is. Initially, underwater, people, communities, organizations, or territories are visualized as a fish swimming in calm or turbulent waters. Next, the instructors—the designers—accompany the divers—people, communities, organizations, or territories—by imagining future waters and creating a vision concepts for them. Later, on the water’s surface, the instructors make a low-resolution prototype and a narrative that presents the vision concept. Finally, on land—the world as it is—the instructors use the prototype and narrative to initiate a conversation among different people about the future and present of the fish. Underwater as on land, the divers learn to perceive, interpret, and respond to change, which helps them make informed decisions about the world as it is.
Additionally, this digital version of DIVE briefly describes a set of theoretical foundations of speculative design and presents some of its manifestations, among others, design fiction, critical design, and vision concepts that include cases such as concept cars and concept products.
This digital version of DIVE, as a speculative design technique, can be useful for exploring the future at various scales, from individuals to territories, including organizations.
