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- Design Fiction: an exploratory educational lever at Audencia
The Design Fiction at Audencia
For several years now, Audencia experiments with the use of design fiction as a method to stimulate critical thinking, imagine alternative futures, and question innovation trajectories. Although this approach is not yet generalized in all the school’s programs, it is supported by some teacher-researchers, in particular Nicolas Minvielle, director of the Specialized Master in Marketing, Design & Creation, and founding member of the collective Making Tomorrow.
Design fiction is located at the crossroads of foresight, design and narration. It involves simulating possible futures by creating stories, objects, prototypes or fictional documents to stimulate debate, raise awareness and develop alternative strategies.
An editorial and collective dynamic
The interest in fictional design at Audencia was manifested as soon 2016, with the publication of the book Playing with the futures [1] by Nicolas Minvielle, Olivier Wathelet and Anthony Masson. This book proposes a structured method to integrate design fiction into innovation approaches.
In addition, this approach has been further developed in several academic and professional publications:
In 2017, the article Design fiction: a method to explore the futures and build the future on Futuribles [2] presents the theoretical foundations of the method.
In 2019, Techniques de l’Ingénieur publishes an article co-authored by Minvielle and Wathelet, which analyzes the interest of fiction in innovation support processes [3].
These publications were followed by the formation of the collective Making Tomorrow, comprising design practitioners, researchers, anthropologists and teachers, including representatives from Audencia.
In 2022, the collective published an eponymous manual [4], the result of several years of experimentation. Then in 2024, they co-directed Skills Mag 2040 [5] with the Centre Inffo : a fictional magazine imagining the evolution of work and skills in 15 to 20 years.
A still occasional but promising use in pedagogy
Far from being a dominant approach in the training programmes, design fiction is still used in a targeted and experimental manner, mainly in some specialized modules and short formats. It serves as an educational tool for:
- stimulating the creativity of the students from speculative situations;
- developing their critical thinking in the face of dominant technological or social scenarios;
- encouraging complex thinking anchored in embodied narratives.
The aim is not to predict the future, but to simulate plausible, disturbing or desirable scenarios in orderto better question the present and future choices.
Exploratory educational formats
1. Fictional workshops in the MS Marketing, Design & Creation
The main deployment space for design fiction at Audencia is located within the Specialized Master in Marketing, Design & Creation, which is directed by Nicolas Minvielle. Every year, workshops are organised there to explore future scenarios through fiction.
Functioning:
- Analysis of weak signals, scripting of future universes;
- Creation of speculative deliverables : such as objects, protocols, articles, simulated applications;
- Storytelling and restitution before a jury or public.
Examples:
- Fictitious letter from an employee to their management AI;
- Notice of an emotional surveillance product in 2045;
- Simulated debate on a referendum about the automation of justice.
2. Projects with partner companies
Some collaborative projects enable the approach to be introduced with real sponsors. In this context, groups of students come up with fictional solutions to future challenges posed by companies.
Example: Consider the role of brands in tackling climate change in 2040 by creating a fictional campaign or radical proposal.
Deliverables are often creative: such as usage kits, videos, charters, and articles. These are used to stimulate discussions about futures that are often overlooked or unwanted.
3. Urban explorations with the REAL Chair
In 2022, the Breakfast #3 – Fabrique de la ville & Design Fiction [6], organised by the REALITES Chair and the Making Tomorrow collective, provided an opportunity to trial the method in the urban and territorial context. Students produced documents simulating future public policies, regulations and objects.
Examples:
- Municipal poster prohibiting certain sensory behaviors;
- Model of a building governed by AI based on collective well-being.
4. Use of fictional media for critical reflection
Some workshops used the speculative magazine Skills Mag 2040 [5] to initiate a debate on the transformation of vocational training, professions and HR governance.
Pedagogic approach:
- Critical reading of speculative narratives;
- Decoding of implicit hypotheses;
- Writing of new articles by the students, based on anticipation.
5. Narrative role-playing in class
Educational sequences sometimes incorporate simulations and fictional debates. In these, students take on the roles of various stakeholders (citizens, companies, public authorities, AI, NGOs, etc.) and engage in debates about complex sociotechnical issues in a future world.
Although these formats are only a small part of the overall educational offering, they demonstrate a growing interest in more open and critical forms of learning, where speculation is used as a tool for strategic discussion.
Conclusion: experiment with critical pedagogies of the future
At this stage, design fiction is still a minority but promising approach within the educational ecosystem of Audencia, but a promising one. Supported by a few dedicated teachers, it paves the way for learning methods that focus less on predicting the future and more on making it debatable and reconfigurable..
Design fiction, which combines imagination, storytelling, and strategic analysis, design fiction constitutes a teaching lab that helps students navigate an uncertain world and become clear-thinking, creative and responsible individuals.
REFERENCES
- Minvielle, N., Wathelet, O., & Masson, A. (2016). Jouer avec les futurs. Utilisez le design fiction pour faire pivoter votre entreprise. Pearson. Link
- Minvielle, N., & Wathelet, O. (2017). Design fiction: a method to explore the futures and build the future. Futuribles, n°418. Link
- Minvielle, N., & Wathelet, O. (2019). Le design fiction comme outil d’aide à l’innovation. Techniques de l’Ingénieur. Link
- Audencia (2022). Sortie de l’ouvrage du collectif Making Tomorrow. Link
- Centre Inffo & Making Tomorrow (2024). Skills Mag 2040. PDF
- Audencia / Chaire REALITES (2022). Petit-déj #3 – Fabrique de la ville & Design Fiction. Link
