These three very broad frameworks have often been considered together. They really are very different tools, for very different sets of issues. Futures Thinking, as I’ve described, is a framework for thinking systematically about possible futures, with the usual intent of preparing and learning from them for action today. Design Thinking, as I’ve understood it, is about a framework to understand user needs and about rapid iterations to get at a desired product or service. It attempts to put user experience at the front and centre for conversations about the product or service. Systems Thinking is another framework that wants to get at the connections between interacting subcomponents within a bounded system, and to identify points of leverage for change.
See also this post, where I explained this in more detail.
Originally here: https://medium.com/open-source-futures/design-futures-systems-together-3caba3253d29
These are very different tools for very different sets of issues. An advantage/disadvantage table is really not the point here, as they have such different paradigms for thinking. That said though, I do see how futures thinking tools can be translated into a systems thinking frame sometimes. System thinking has been incorporated into futures thinking tools, as we want to identify key drivers for the world-system that might be considered for a particular topic.
It is possible to think of futures thinking as designing for the future in mind. The process of building possible worlds creates the context for designers to think about the needs and issues arising from the world, and to create products and services for that world. Creating user personas and the various ambient environment elements creates the context for different products and services that might emerge for these different worlds.
It is also possible to think of design thinking as futures thinking for the present. The consideration of the range of experiences that users go through, is in fact, already taking into account the possibilities that users encounter, and for the designed product/service to meet those encounters.
It seems to me that design thinking is then, sort of a kind of systems thinking already. The Design Thinking process takes into account the various features of the world that users encounter, and creates some kind of solution to address the outcomes of the different interacting variables, albeit in a different modality. They have elements that can be mapped from one to the other.
The process of designing future artefacts can be one outcome of a design thinking process. Stepping into the shoes of a persona interacting in that world can lead to realisations of how that world might impact the experience of a persona in a given situation. The data might be “fiction” in the sense that they are not derived from an actual empirical process, but the design thinking framework should provide a blueprint for how people might deepen the future(s) being considered and to conceive of the possible artefact — be it a product or a service.
So these are just some of the ways the concepts relate to each other. Have fun mixing up/combing these tools for whatever you might be thinking about!
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