Speculative Design for the Public Sector : Design Fiction as a Tool for Better Understanding Public Services

This paper investigates how speculative design and particularly design fiction can be an effective educational approach to public sector design. The innovation and digitization of public services has been an important driver for the introduction of design thinking and service design methodologies in the public administration in recent years. Design for the public sector on the other hand affects the way the citizen-institution relationship is conducted and therefore requires an ethical and possibly critical approach. Likewise, the global challenges that await public policy choices are increasingly confronted with analyses and foresights of the future. Design fiction is a way through which, starting from the designer's educational path, design, politics, foresight and civic participation can be combined within a conscious and ethical narrative framework.