DIVE

DIVE plan DIVE log: Canvases & Folders 3D ( Part 1 , 2 copies & Part 2 , 1 copy) Brochure of the Workshop Design Futures for SMEs

As part of the Activity 1 Understanding the present, the designers apply the Strategic PES with the company representatives, to set a domain and a time frame. According to Hekkert and van Dijk (2011), the domain delimits the focus area of the process in which designers aim to contribute, “acting as a map that guides [the] exploration of the context and the factors to be taken into account. [It is] (preferably) a particular area in life.” Moreover, the time frame is an interva

In Activity 2 Approaching the future, the designers conduct desk research and field work to collect context factors. With this picture of the future, they cluster these factors with the company representatives to define a vision, which captures what the vision concept should do and be before it is made. The vision consists of a statement describing what the designers want to offer people within the domain, including a definition of the interaction qualities (Hekkert & van Dij

Following the vision, in Activity 3 Exploring the future, the designers imagine, experience, test, select, transform, develop, and complete early ideas by making different prototypes: sketches, diagrams, and mockups (Sanders & Stappers, 2014). By the end of this activity, they will have a collection of information that describes the vision concept: a concept product, service, or product service system.

In Activity 4 Communicating the future, the designers make a rough prototype and create visuals and a narrative to share the vision concept. The last two elements support the prototype, placing the vision concept in an image of the future, complete with people, context, and their relationships. This support is important because, as Stappers (2013) argues, rough prototypes are physical manifestations of ideas or concepts that only give the overall idea, to evoke discussion and

Finally, in Activity 5 Looking back into the future, the designers facilitate a conversation with the company representatives and other stakeholders to map the company’s future. The designers use the vision concept, embodied in the prototype, the visuals, and the narrative, to help participants express their thoughts, feelings, and ideas about the company’s future. Along the conversation, the designers make a road map with strategic recommendations for the near and speculativ