Abstract
In this study, we explore the integration of the world-building approach into design studio education to engage students with emerging technologies. Specifically, we examine how senior-year industrial design students (n=64) approached the design of a near-future transportation concept: Electric Vertical Take-Off and Landing (E-VTOL) aircraft systems. To facilitate ideation around this unfamiliar technological domain, the project began with a world-building workshop rooted in design fiction, followed by a series of weekly desk critiques. The project was evaluated through student outputs and a questionnaire, with a focus on the conceptual development phase. A thematic analysis of the visual and textual data reveals that the world-building approach supported design framing and encouraged imaginative freedom in the early stages of ideation, making it a promising pedagogical tool for incorporating emerging technologies into studio practice.
Keywords
Design education; World-building; E-vtol; Design fiction; Design studio
DOI
https://doi.org/10.21606/iasdr.2025.759
Citation
Celik, A.T., Ozdulger, F., Alppay, E.C.,and Kaya, C.(2025) World-Building as a Design Framing Tool for Emerging Technologies in Design Studio, in Chang, C.-Y., and Hsu, Y. (eds.), IASDR 2025: Design Next, 02-05 December, Taiwan. https://doi.org/10.21606/iasdr.2025.759
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
Conference Track
Track 12 - Design Education
World-Building as a Design Framing Tool for Emerging Technologies in Design Studio
In this study, we explore the integration of the world-building approach into design studio education to engage students with emerging technologies. Specifically, we examine how senior-year industrial design students (n=64) approached the design of a near-future transportation concept: Electric Vertical Take-Off and Landing (E-VTOL) aircraft systems. To facilitate ideation around this unfamiliar technological domain, the project began with a world-building workshop rooted in design fiction, followed by a series of weekly desk critiques. The project was evaluated through student outputs and a questionnaire, with a focus on the conceptual development phase. A thematic analysis of the visual and textual data reveals that the world-building approach supported design framing and encouraged imaginative freedom in the early stages of ideation, making it a promising pedagogical tool for incorporating emerging technologies into studio practice.