SDC
Speculative Design Course
by LAB Muotoiluinstituutti and Hi Shine
The future isn’t a straight line. It’s a fractal.
Unlock the tools to question, imagine and create what's next.
A three-hour facilitated online course with practical examples of speculative design, pragmatic tools and frameworks for applying speculative design to your day-to-day work, and an exclusive Discord community for networking and continuous learning.
Understand core principles:
Learn how speculative design differs from traditional methodologies and why it matters in exploring alternative futures.
Learn how speculative design differs from traditional methodologies and why it matters in exploring alternative futures.
Master tools and techniques:
Gain hands-on experience with tools and methods for blending speculative design and foresight into practical applications.
Gain hands-on experience with tools and methods for blending speculative design and foresight into practical applications.
Create tangible artefacts:
Develop prototypes and scenarios that embody provocative futures and inspire stakeholder engagement.
Develop prototypes and scenarios that embody provocative futures and inspire stakeholder engagement.
Design with impact:
Learn how to integrate speculative design into workflows to bridge imagination and real-world needs.
Learn how to integrate speculative design into workflows to bridge imagination and real-world needs.
Join the next course
Meet the facilitators
Available dates
Duration
Price
Matilda Kivelä
Matilda Kivelä is a strategic leader and creative consultant with extensive expertise in leveraging strategic planning and cultural trends to develop meaningful brands, products and solutions. She has collaborated with global enterprises, startups, and creative agencies, combining bold thinking and speculative design methods.
Matilda Kivelä is a strategic leader and creative consultant with extensive expertise in leveraging strategic planning and cultural trends to develop meaningful brands, products and solutions. She has collaborated with global enterprises, startups, and creative agencies, combining bold thinking and speculative design methods.
Antero Kivikoski
Heading New Ventures at the LAB Design Institute, Antero Kivikoski focuses on digital innovations and the development of venturing models. With over 20 years of experience, he has supported companies in creating scalable products and services while leveraging design thinking in strategy work and innovation programs.
Recognized for his ability to unite teams and foster collaboration, his practical coaching approach helps organizations build capabilities and address future challenges sustainably and effectively.
Heading New Ventures at the LAB Design Institute, Antero Kivikoski focuses on digital innovations and the development of venturing models. With over 20 years of experience, he has supported companies in creating scalable products and services while leveraging design thinking in strategy work and innovation programs.
Recognized for his ability to unite teams and foster collaboration, his practical coaching approach helps organizations build capabilities and address future challenges sustainably and effectively.
Language:
Finnish / English
Teaching mode:
Pre-Material + Workshop
Type:
Extension studies
Location:
As agreed
Ask for more or inquire for custom courses: sdc@hishine.co
What
This course is designed to give you a practical introduction to speculative design—tools and techniques that help you think beyond the present and imagine new possibilities. In a single, focused session, you’ll explore how to connect big ideas with actionable strategies that can inspire change within your organisation.
Through real-world case studies and hands-on exercises, you’ll learn to prototype unconventional futures and develop frameworks to integrate these ideas into your work.
By the end, you’ll have a clear understanding of how speculative design can help you reimagine challenges, question assumptions, and create meaningful impact.
Through real-world case studies and hands-on exercises, you’ll learn to prototype unconventional futures and develop frameworks to integrate these ideas into your work.
By the end, you’ll have a clear understanding of how speculative design can help you reimagine challenges, question assumptions, and create meaningful impact.
How
Speculative Design Course™ transforms abstract questions into human-centred artefacts and scenarios, making complexity manageable and choices intentional. It ensures we don’t just react to the future—we shape it.
A TOOL
that enables creative exploration
A LENS
to critically evaluate foresight outputs by testing their societal, ethical, and emotional implications
A HYBRID APPROACH
where speculative design adds creativity and depth to foresight's structured analysis, creating a more comprehensive toolkit for innovation.
A TOOL
that enables creative exploration
A LENS
to critically evaluate foresight outputs by testing their societal, ethical, and emotional implications
A HYBRID APPROACH
where speculative design adds creativity and depth to foresight's structured analysis, creating a more comprehensive toolkit for innovation.
For Whom
Entrepreneurs and innovators
Gain tools for venturing into uncharted territories, generating novel artefacts, and enhancing innovation processes.
Designers and creative professionals
Learn frameworks for moving from reactive design to proactive speculation, enriching their creative process.
Business leaders and strategists
Visualise long-term strategies, explore alternative business futures, and create impactful narratives that resonate with stakeholders.
Scientists and researchers
Use speculative design as a lens to create tangible use cases and hybrid foresight tools that align with real-world needs.
For innovators and leaders
The course provides the means to turn bold ideas into tangible outcomes. For scientists and strategists, it bridges vision with impact, helping us anticipate challenges and craft meaningful solutions.
Gain tools for venturing into uncharted territories, generating novel artefacts, and enhancing innovation processes.
Designers and creative professionals
Learn frameworks for moving from reactive design to proactive speculation, enriching their creative process.
Business leaders and strategists
Visualise long-term strategies, explore alternative business futures, and create impactful narratives that resonate with stakeholders.
Scientists and researchers
Use speculative design as a lens to create tangible use cases and hybrid foresight tools that align with real-world needs.
For innovators and leaders
The course provides the means to turn bold ideas into tangible outcomes. For scientists and strategists, it bridges vision with impact, helping us anticipate challenges and craft meaningful solutions.
Speculative Design for everyone: four free tools to shape the future
We believe speculative design can empower anyone to think differently and imagine new possibilities. That’s why we’ve curated four free tools to help you prototype, ideate, and explore bold futures. Discover more tools and ideas in our Speculative Design Course.
Future Consequence Tree
Start with a single speculative idea and map out its potential short-term impacts, long-term consequences, and unintended effects.
The future consequences tree enables systems thinking and reveals how one change can ripple through society and culture.
The future consequences tree enables systems thinking and reveals how one change can ripple through society and culture.
Worldbuilding canvas
Create a detailed speculative world by imagining its technologies, cultural norms, power structures, and ecosystems.
This foundational tool helps you develop cohesive futures and explore how systems interact within them.
This foundational tool helps you develop cohesive futures and explore how systems interact within them.
Speculative advertisements
Create ad campaigns for speculative products or services, exploring how they appeal to emotions, values, and norms.
With speculative ad campaigns, you're free to test and examine new ideas in an unconstrained way. This foundational tool helps you develop cohesive futures and explore how systems interact within them.
With speculative ad campaigns, you're free to test and examine new ideas in an unconstrained way. This foundational tool helps you develop cohesive futures and explore how systems interact within them.
Postcards from an unknown future
Write postcards from speculative futures, capturing life in an imagined world. Explore the culture, tech and emotions of this world.
Postcards from speculative futures allow you to empathise and imagine alternative futures, cultures and innovations.
Postcards from speculative futures allow you to empathise and imagine alternative futures, cultures and innovations.
Material available for download soon
Join the Speculative Design course and start your journey @discord to unlock
the full potential
As part of this course, participants will gain exclusive access to the Speculative Design Discord Community, a digital space designed to extend your learning and foster connections.
Here, you can:
- Network with peers: Engage with a diverse group of innovators, designers and thinkers who are equally passionate about shaping the future.
- Collaborate and share ideas: Exchange insights, brainstorm on projects and co-create new speculative concepts.
- Access additional resources: Explore additional tools, articles and case studies shared exclusively within the community.
- Participate in discussions: Dive deeper into course topics, share your own experiences, and learn from others’ approaches to speculative design.
- Stay inspired: Receive updates on future events, workshops and opportunities to apply speculative design in real-world scenarios.
Enroll now
Reimagine tomorrow, start today.
Get to know us:
⤷ hishine.co
⤷ hishine.co
More courses and about LAB Muotoiluinstituutti:
⤷ lab.fi/en/design-and-fine-arts
⤷ lab.fi/en/design-and-fine-arts
Ask for more or inquire custom courses
⤷ sdc@hishine.co
⤷ sdc@hishine.co