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Empathising with the future: creating next-next generation products and services

This paper advances the understanding of how designers develop new products and services that are intended for timescales beyond the normal development timeframe in any given sector. Its originality lies in the exploration of how contemporary designers research, develop and communicate “next-next generation products and services” as this is an area of design research that has received extremely limited academic attention. It presents a design-led futures framework that aims to assist designers when developing next-next generation products and services. This framework enables designers to empathise with our future lives and as such provide next-next generation products and services that are not only required by future consumers, but are desired.

Data was drawn from analysis of 30+ interviews with leading exponents of design-led futures in Europe and the USA. Insight was generated from these interviews through systematic and iterative open, axial and selective coding; analysis and theory development utilised thematic analysis; additional consultation with experts was undertaken in Delphi-style interviews to validate findings.

The significance of this research lies in the development of a framework for designers to empathise with consumers in the future. Through the application of structured analysis it develops knowledge of contemporary design practice and presents this in an accessible form for practitioners and researchers to access. This work has been presented at a number of international conferences and at Samsung corporate headquarters in Seoul, South Korea.