Abstract
This paper proposes speculative co-imagination, a design approach that integrates design fiction with participatory visualization to explore alternative futures. In the post-AI era, as automation replaces standardized tasks, designers increasingly focus on framing critical questions. Design fiction creates plausible yet fictional scenarios to provoke reflection, but often lacks audience engagement. By incorporating participatory visualization, users become co-creators of speculative narratives through data input and interaction. Drawing on the project Sky Protocol, which imagines the urban sky as an algorithmic visual platform, the paper demonstrates how user-driven data shapes collective perception. The practice is guided by a five-stage framework consisting of fictional system framing, participatory input modelling, position formation dynamics, negotiated visualisation construction, and systemic recursion modelling. This study positions visualization as a medium for public speculation and socio-technical critique.
Keywords
Design Fiction, Participatory Visualization, Speculative Design, Co-Imagination
DOI
https://doi.org/10.21606/drs.2026.765
Citation
Wang, M., Gong, Y., Wang, H., Geng, Z., Hu, Z., and Ding, A. (2026) Speculative Co-Imagination: Participatory Visualization Informed by Design Fiction, in Simeone, L., Gray, C. M., Verhoeven, A., de Götzen, A., Bakırlıoğlu, Y., Zohar, H., Stead, M., and Buwert, P. (eds.), DRS2026: Edinburgh, 8–12 June, Edinburgh, United Kingdom. https://doi.org/10.21606/drs.2026.765
Creative Commons License
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Included in
Speculative Co-Imagination: Participatory Visualization Informed by Design Fiction
This paper proposes speculative co-imagination, a design approach that integrates design fiction with participatory visualization to explore alternative futures. In the post-AI era, as automation replaces standardized tasks, designers increasingly focus on framing critical questions. Design fiction creates plausible yet fictional scenarios to provoke reflection, but often lacks audience engagement. By incorporating participatory visualization, users become co-creators of speculative narratives through data input and interaction. Drawing on the project Sky Protocol, which imagines the urban sky as an algorithmic visual platform, the paper demonstrates how user-driven data shapes collective perception. The practice is guided by a five-stage framework consisting of fictional system framing, participatory input modelling, position formation dynamics, negotiated visualisation construction, and systemic recursion modelling. This study positions visualization as a medium for public speculation and socio-technical critique.