How Teams Use Tangible Prototypes to Move from Future Speculation to Decisions When Developing Resilient Product-Service Systems

Ryan Ruvald (), William Cockayne and Tamara Carleton
Additional contact information
Ryan Ruvald: Blekinge Institute of Technology
William Cockayne: Blekinge Institute of Technology
Tamara Carleton: Blekinge Institute of Technology

A chapter in Smart Services Summit, 2024, pp 195-205 from Springer

Abstract: Abstract How can teams make informed decisions today for systems that will emerge in the distant future? This paper explores the role of tangible systems prototypes in bridging the gap between speculation and interactive scenario development for complex product and service systems. Drawing from multiple fields, our study leverages Foresight Engineering, an approach pioneered at Stanford University that applies the practices of future studies and tangible prototyping to new technology and product development with the intent to make critical, forward-looking decisions. Five years of empirical data—including tangible artifacts, videos, photos, and narratives—were collected from teams employing low-fidelity systems prototyping and foresight engineering. Our findings reveal that this integrated approach enables teams to quickly embody complex future scenarios, simplify inherent complexity into tangible objects, and promote iterative discussions. The outcome is the generation of testable questions and the exploration of uncharted directions within the related opportunity and invention space. As the need intensifies to model, measure, and construct complex systems for a resilient and sustainable future, a Foresight Engineering approach empowers diverse teams to transition from the unknown (or unknowable) to actionable invention and the advancement of both knowledge and practice.

Keywords: Systems prototyping; Foresight engineering; Decision making (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

There are no downloads for this item, see the EconPapers FAQ for hints about obtaining it.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:prochp:978-3-031-60313-6_14

Ordering information: This item can be ordered from
http://www.springer.com/9783031603136

DOI: 10.1007/978-3-031-60313-6_14

Access Statistics for this chapter

More chapters in Progress in IS from Springer
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().