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What is Future Workshopping?

Future Workshopping is a visioning activity designed to help teams imagine and plan for the future.

Participants are asked to imagine a future scenario related to the product, service, or industry in question, often considering what if questions and long-term challenges or opportunities.

The process usually involves multiple steps, including generating ideas for future improvements or innovations and considering various possible outcomes based on current trends. 

This forward-looking approach ensures that design decisions are not just reactive, but proactive, taking into account where things might be heading.

“Imagine the future of social media in 10 years. What will users expect?”

“What might be the most important features of a smart home system in 15 years?”

Future Workshopping in UX Research

Anticipate user needs

By thinking about the future, teams can anticipate user needs that may not be immediately obvious or relevant today.

Innovate

It encourages participants to break free from current constraints and think creatively, exploring new technologies or trends that could shape the future.

Align on future goals

Future workshopping helps teams align on long-term product goals and directions.

Explore emergent trends

It allows teams to understand and plan for potential shifts in technology, culture, and the market.

Involve stakeholders

Bringing different team members together helps create a shared vision for the future, aligning stakeholders and teams on product direction.

How to: Future Workshopping

Define the Focus Area

The first step in future workshopping is to define the area of focus. This could be a specific product, a design challenge, or a broader industry trend.

The more specific the focus, the more targeted the outcomes will be.

Assemble a Diverse Group of Participants

Bring together a diverse group of stakeholders, which might include designers, researchers, product managers, engineers, and end users.

This diversity helps generate a range of perspectives, leading to more comprehensive and creative ideas.

Present Current Trends and Data

Provide participants with background data on current trends, user behavior, market analysis, and technological advancements that may shape the future.

This helps ground the workshop in real-world insights while encouraging participants to think about future possibilities.

Brainstorm Possible Futures

Ask participants to imagine different futures based on the current trends and data presented. 

They should be encouraged to think beyond what’s realistic or probable, delving into ideas that might seem unconventional or speculative.

“In 10 years, how might users interact with technology differently? What new behaviors will emerge, and how will that affect our product?”

Create Scenarios and Visualize Futures

Participants can be asked to visualize specific future scenarios and map out how these scenarios would impact the product or user experience.

This could involve creating journey maps, storyboards, or conceptual sketches of what these future states could look like.

Prioritize Ideas

Once a range of ideas and futures has been generated, participants can vote or rank the ideas to prioritize which ones are most exciting, feasible, or relevant for further exploration.

This helps identify the most promising ideas to develop further.

Develop Actionable Steps

While future workshopping is often focused on long-term visions, it is essential to link the insights to actionable steps.

What can the team do now to start preparing for or moving toward these potential futures?

This helps keep the vision grounded in current product development and planning.

Uses of Future Workshopping

Creative Exploration

Future workshopping encourages teams to think outside of current constraints and explore new possibilities.

Long-term Vision

It helps create a shared understanding of where a product or industry could be headed, ensuring that design efforts are aligned with long-term goals.

Innovation Catalyst

By challenging conventional thinking and pushing the boundaries of what’s possible, future workshopping can spark innovative ideas that lead to new products, features, or strategies.

Cross-Disciplinary Collaboration

Engaging a variety of stakeholders in future workshopping helps build a holistic vision and alignment across teams.

Risk Mitigation

Anticipating future challenges and opportunities allows teams to proactively address potential problems and adapt to changes before they occur.

Applications of Future Workshopping in UX Research

Product Roadmapping

It can help teams map out a product roadmap with future features and goals, ensuring the product remains innovative and competitive.

User Experience Strategy

Future workshopping is an effective way to create long-term UX strategies, particularly for products that will evolve over time.

Innovative Concept Development

By thinking about how users might interact with future technology, this method can spark the development of innovative features and product concepts.

Emerging Technology Exploration

When designing for new technologies, future workshopping helps imagine new ways users might engage with technology in ways that are currently unforeseen.

Data

The team presents data on current fitness trends, wearable technology, and health data analytics.

Brainstorming

Participants are asked to imagine how fitness will evolve in the next decade, considering the rise of new technologies (e.g., AI-powered health tracking, VR fitness experiences, etc.).

Scenarios

Participants create scenarios where users can interact with a fitness app through augmented reality (AR) or receive personalized workout recommendations from AI-based virtual coaches.

Prioritization

The group discusses which scenarios are most feasible and impactful, and votes on the most exciting ones.

Actionable Steps

The team develops a plan to explore integrating wearable tech and VR/AR features into the app over the next few years.