Future Foresight

Have you ever wondered how the future of private data will look like? With the support of Berliner Ideenlabor, the Spark Labs team applied the methods of Future Foresight to brainstorm on possible future scenarios. This method builds on the basis of speculative design to identify how different trends affect or might affect your idea or organization in the coming years. With the help of forecasting and scenario building techniques, we practiced how to conduct a holistic strategic analysis of the external environment through the STEEP matrix. This brainstorming tool allows you to understand and identify the major forces (positive or negative) that will be likely to influence the future of your organization from different perspectives (society, technology, economy, environment, and policy).

Having mapped a variety of trends in the matrix, we were able combine and merge a selection to build two alternative aspirational scenarios, both with a clear headline and vision statement. This exercise is particularly helpful to detach your creative thinking from what is currently believed or what is it most likely to happen, as it forces you to examine alternative paths of development. Finally, it was time to make a link between future and strategy. Once the vision statement was identified, we designed a high-level roadmap to achieve our long-term objective: a society in which data could support us to be mentally and physically healthier, without compromising our freedom.  

What changes needed to occur for our vision to become reality? In our envisioned scenarios, we revised current policy regulations, influenced consumer behaviors and doubled the velocity of technology take-up.  As the last step, we explored ‘future prototyping’ to ideate on how such changes could look like in the future.

Combining elements from design and innovation strategy, future foresight builds strong, organizational strategies. We are excited to start applying this method to help organizations embracing change by anticipating future trends and incorporating them into far-sighted vision able to drive success in the long-run.