Future scenarios
Future scenarios is an ideation warm-up exercise for divergent ideation: it helps participants open up more possible ideas before choosing a direction.
How to run it
- Explain the importance of imagining future scenarios for planning and design.
- Introduce the topic or project and define the time horizon.
- Share examples of future scenarios to inspire participants.
- Work with participants to identify key factors that could influence the future of the topic (e.g., technology, policies, social changes).
- Divide the group into teams and assign each one the task of developing a specific scenario based on combinations of key factors.
Run this exercise live
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What participants need now
Materials:
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Prompts to use +
Explain the importance of imagining future scenarios for planning and design.
Share examples of future scenarios to inspire participants.
Work with participants to identify key factors that could influence the future of the topic (e.g., technology, policies, social changes).
Run this with your AI assistant +
Works with Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini, or your own local model: paste this prompt and your AI will co-facilitate this exercise with you.
Adapt this exercise for my exact room. Exercise: Future scenarios. Readiness: Publishable Draft. Core moves: Explain the importance of imagining future scenarios for planning and design.; Share examples of future scenarios to inspire participants.; Work with participants to identify key factors that could influence the future of the topic (e.g., technology, policies, social changes).. Return a concise facilitator script with timing, wording, safety notes, and remote/in-person adjustments.
Origin unverified
- Where we observed it: The strongest current observations come from Participatory Methods; aggregators are listed as additional observations, not origin proof. (1 source observed, including Participatory Methods.)
- What that means: we track where an exercise has been observed in public sources. We do not claim to know who created it, or how popular it is.
- No efficacy claims: appearing in this library is not a claim that the exercise is proven effective. Facilitator judgment and context decide whether it works for a given room.
- Corrections: if you have evidence of an earlier or more accurate source, read our methodology and trust boundary and tell us.