Saturday June 27th 2020, 5:15pm IST onwards

Duration: 90 minutes

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Technology is changing the way we work, collaborate, and learn; it is imperative for students and professionals, especially those working on and contributing to technology design and development, to reimagine and explore various technological futures. Further, the 2020 pandemic has put technology at the forefront of our work, play, and learning and also forced us all to rethink, re-evaluate, and reconsider our relationship with technology going forward. It has also accentuated the digital divide, exacerbating technology exclusion and accessibility. Therefore, it is timely for students and professionals to have the tools to reimagine and redefine technological futures that are inclusive and empowering. This is where critical design fiction comes in.

Critical Design Fiction (CDF) is a design paradigm and approach that provides mechanisms to discuss, build, and consider alternative futures through scenarios, contexts, and/or objects and artefacts. CDF can also be considered as a medium that facilitates participants to challenge the status quo, to imagine provocative and even preposterous futures that may ultimately liberate those who are oppressed through a lack of decision-making power and control over their own lives and destiny due to rigid social, cultural, or political norms.

In this workshop, participants are introduced to the concept of critical design fiction and how to apply it for imagining the future of technology for education and wellbeing. The workshop includes short lectures, discussions, and group work. For the group work, participants are divided into teams of 4-6 and are provided a scenario, context, and set of questions. Using these, they have to consider, discuss, and design a potential future application idea. At end of the workshop, participants are familiar with the concept of critical design fiction and can consider it in a variety of scenarios and contexts. Interested participants are invited to co-author a paper on the findings from the workshop to a relevant HCI venue.