Summary
UX research is inherently future-oriented. As researchers, we are often on the lookout to understand what users expect, what they anticipate to happen, and what they hope will come next. How we orient ourselves towards the future is part of how we experience the present. By drawing attention to the nuances of different future orientations in everyday life, we can unlock new depths of understanding to improve product and service design. Join this session to learn how to center the future as an object of study and apply frameworks from futures anthropology to advance tactical and strategic research.
Key Insights
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Everyone experiences time differently—our past shapes our present.
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UX research should not only address past and present but also incorporate future orientations.
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Futures anthropology offers a framework to understand how communities envision and experience the future.
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Understanding six future orientations can enhance UX research processes.
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Expectation represents a future state based on past experiences.
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Anticipation involves actions taken in preparation for uncertain future conditions.
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Speculation acknowledges the unknowns and feeds into the creative process.
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Potential examines unactualized possibilities that could arise.
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Hope manifests as positive expectations leading to actions that can realize future outcomes.
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Destiny refers to preconceived ideas that a future outcome is inevitable.
Notable Quotes
"Over 7 billion versions of right now exist."
"We all experience time differently, shaped by our past."
"UX research is inherently future oriented; no one is making products for the past."
"How we balance our actions can signal what we might see happen in the future."
"Futures anthropology is about a humanity-centered approach to understanding the future."
"The future is accessible to us as an object of study."
"How we orient ourselves to the future impacts our experience of the present."
"Uncertainty is our playground—it allows us to explore multiple futures."
"The world in which some people inhabit can be very different from our own."
"There are over 7 billion futures of right now."
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