Possibilities of Becoming: Designing for Hope in Uncertain Futures

Here we present an article addressing how to design for uncertain futures. The article is written by an interdisciplinary team from Oslo School of Architecture and the Oslo University Hospital. It is published at DIID. Link below

Authors:

Josina Vink, Jonathan Romm, Kristin Lie Romm, Henrik Myhre Ihler

Abstract

At the core of designing futures is ‘possibility’, not just predictability. While design has embraced a host of futures methods that explore what ‘might’ or ‘could’ happen, such as scenarios, there remains a tendency to ignore the discom-fort that comes with embracing the unknown. A failure to attune to the tolerance for uncertainty of those involved, risks their aversion to the process and proposals of designing futures. The purpose of this research is to understand how designing futures can support actors in staying “alive to the possibilities of becoming” (Barad, 2007, p. 396), with par-ticular regard to navigating their discomfort with uncertainty. Drawing on learnings from two attempts at designing futures within mental healthcare systems in Norway, this paper presents strategies for designing that premise future poten-tialities as situated within the thick, unfolding present. This research offers a pathway for stewarding emerging potential-ities by working intentionally with time as nested and agency as relational to cultivate hope in uncertain futures.

Amid growing popularity and uptake of futures methods, design is increasingly positioning itself as a means of exploring possible futures (Candy & Potter, 2019; Clèries & Morrison, 2020). Design is said to contribute to futures approaches by bringing rich, speculative visions to life so that others can understand what these possible futures could look like and feel like, often with the aim of informing the present-day strategy of organizations and communities (Candy & Kornet, 2019; Martinussen & Matthews, 2019). Acknowledging that designing futures rests in the space of possibility rather than predict-ability, unearths ‘uncertainty’ as a central element of such processes. Research has highlighted that feelings of discomfort often arise in connection with exposing uncertainty and can significantly hinder the integration of learnings from participating in such pro-cesses (Brassett & O’Reilly, 2015; Ramirez & Selin, 2014). In partic-ular, employees’ resistance to change and attitudes towards uncer-tainty are well-documented as a major contributor to failed change efforts (Ahmad & Cheng, 2018; Rehman et al., 2021), especially in complex systems like health care (Nembhard et al., 2009). Ignoring these feelings and failing to attune to the tolerance of those involved for ‘not knowing’, risks compromising the utility and impact of efforts aimed at designing futures. As such, the aim of this paper is to understand how efforts to design futures can support participants in staying open to unfolding potentialities, acknowledging their discomfort amid uncertainty. In response, this research draws on learnings from two practical explo-rations of designing futures within mental health systems in Oslo, Norway, through a collaboration between a Master of Design course and a local research hospital. These learnings are integrated with insights from Karen Barad’s (2007) work on relationality to develop five strategies for staying “alive to the possibilities of becoming” (p. 396) when designing futures. Barad’s work highlights the need for nurturing openness and responsibility among related actors amid ongoing change. The five strategies identified include: 1) acknowledging causality as an entangled affair; 2) working from ‘within’ the world’s becoming; 3) responding to manifold entanglements; 4) staying close to the pulse of the here and now, and 5) meeting the universe halfway. These strategies offer a pathway for stewarding emerg-ing potentialities by working intentionally with time as nested and agency as relational when designing futures. In particular, this research shows the importance of cultivating the conditions for hope, where actors can take action and responsibility from within their existing entanglements to shape ongoing unfoldings toward preferred futures.