Vision Concepts within the landscape of design research

Abstract

In the landscape of design research, several techniques of speculative design -or design about ideas- have been positioned, each with a different time
frame. Design Fiction and Critical Design, for instance, emerged as making activities that explore the near and the speculative future, respectively. We previously defined
Vision Concepts as a design-led technique that explores and communicates speculative futures. Even though Vision Concepts, such as long-term concept cars and
products, have been part of the industry since 1938, previous work has failed to identify and understand them from the design research perspective or compared
them with other speculative design techniques. This study intends to identify which spot Vision Concepts occupies within the landscape of design research. To that end,
we developed a multiple case analysis that includes examples of Vision Concepts, Design Fiction, and Critical Design. This paper will help design researchers identify the
similarities and differences between Vision Concepts and the other speculative design techniques and gain knowledge about when and why to apply this technique.