Anticipation for Grand Challenges: An Ethnographic Study of Future-Making Practices in a Technology Company

Abstract

Visions that highlight new technological capabilities often depict frictionless futures in which data, information, resources flow seamlessly. These visions suggest that our most pressing challenges could be solved with technological fixes. However, some challenges cannot be solved by technology alone. In recent years, grand challenges have gained attention in industry and academia, with organizations pledging to address large-scale, complex, and intractable societal problems. While technoscientific advancements are typically seen as the key to achieving these goals, a more critical and systemic approach that starts with imagining alternative visions is required to address the multi-faceted nature of grand challenges. We argue that the intersection of foresight and design could provide a rich ground for fostering new ways for making alternative futures in technology companies. In this paper we explore the role of future-oriented design practices in addressing grand challenges within a large multinational conglomerate. Drawing from ethnographic research conducted in the company's Research and Development (R&D) Center in the USA, we find that grand challenges inform research and development strategies in the organization and shape the future visions they create and disseminate. We argue that while the organization shifts its R&D strategy to address grand challenges, the role of future-oriented design becomes increasingly important. We also identify the frictions that arise when introducing future-oriented design practices and explore the evolution of these practices in response to these frictions. Furthermore, we argue that future-oriented design practices explicitly showcase how pressing grand challenges are and invite stakeholders to engage with futures more critically.