Abstract
This article presents a case-based investigation of design-led foresight in practice through a series of international workshops conducted in Denmark and China within a doctoral action-research programme with Revigrés, a Portuguese ceramic manufacturer. Grounded in a structured trend cartography clustered into fifteen domains, multidisciplinary teams employed lightweight foresight methods, including personas, rapid scenario visioning, and low-fidelity prototyping, to explore possible housing futures for 2070. Twelve speculative design visions emerged, ranging from bio-integrated habitats and privacy-legible smart homes to circular neighbourhood systems and programmable interiors. Rather than treating these visions as predictive outcomes, the study examines how workshop artefacts functioned as boundary objects that enabled organisational reflection, surfaced assumptions, and supported cross-disciplinary dialogue. The case illustrates how compact design-led foresight workshops can facilitate strategic sense-making and enact elements of design leadership within industrial contexts. Implications are discussed for strategic design practice, innovation governance, and design education.
Keywords
design-led foresight; speculative design; strategic design leadership; housing futures.
DOI
https://doi.org/10.21606/drs.2026.1331
Citation
Agostinho, G., and Franqueira, T. (2026) From speculation to strategy reflection: A case study of design-led foresight workshops at Revigrés, 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.2026.1331
Creative Commons License
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Included in
From speculation to strategy reflection: A case study of design-led foresight workshops at Revigrés
This article presents a case-based investigation of design-led foresight in practice through a series of international workshops conducted in Denmark and China within a doctoral action-research programme with Revigrés, a Portuguese ceramic manufacturer. Grounded in a structured trend cartography clustered into fifteen domains, multidisciplinary teams employed lightweight foresight methods, including personas, rapid scenario visioning, and low-fidelity prototyping, to explore possible housing futures for 2070. Twelve speculative design visions emerged, ranging from bio-integrated habitats and privacy-legible smart homes to circular neighbourhood systems and programmable interiors. Rather than treating these visions as predictive outcomes, the study examines how workshop artefacts functioned as boundary objects that enabled organisational reflection, surfaced assumptions, and supported cross-disciplinary dialogue. The case illustrates how compact design-led foresight workshops can facilitate strategic sense-making and enact elements of design leadership within industrial contexts. Implications are discussed for strategic design practice, innovation governance, and design education.