My Final Year Project
This project examined how speculative design can be used to imagine everyday life. I chose to do this within a Mars base, using a corporate recruitment website format to make the scenario interesting and relatable.
Key features
Using features like housing allocation, AI-led recruitment and slightly sinister FAQs I presented a future that appears safe and desirable while hopefully subtly showing underlying tensions within privacy, control and automation.
During the development of the artefact, I learned how language, visual atmosphere and design can show ethical concerns without explicit explanation. It made me aware of how design can be subtle and full of thought, ideas do not need to be obviously displayed.
Learnings
The project showed me design is a tool for reflection as well as problem-solving and showed me how well designed artefacts can create emotional responses through tone, structure and presentation.
Challenges
I really enjoyed the creativity involved in this project. The main issue was knowing when to stop, I could have gone on forever. Eventually, I drew a line under it and moved onto the next project, but it was tough!
