The Critical Catalyst: A Critical Approach to Design Futures Literacy

Design and Future Studies are intrinsically related fields. Both fields aim to introduce possible visions of the future, seeking to achieve sustainable futures for humanity. However, future challenges are becoming more evident with the rising ubiquity of socio-technological breakthroughs. Over the past three decades, several movements emerged sharing the concept of being critical of design (Mazé, 2019); these movements are trying to operate out of the external borders of the market-driven enquiry (Malpass, 2017). These practices mean looking critically at possibilities and influencing change by mitigating unfavoured consequences. This paper reflects on how the Research through Design approach can affect these practices through the activities and devices we have developed called “the Critical Catalyst (CC)”. We applied this approach to the MSc students of Integrated Product Design at the Design School in Politecnico di Milano. The results of this experience are condensed into nine Provo-types (provocative prototypes) presented at the end of the course. This paper examines the CC design future process and reflects upon the experience and tools by analysing the critical choices.