Atlas of Weak Signals¶
In the first design class, after an initial introduction on how to use the Atlas of Weak Signals to figure out future research areas, we were given our own set of cards, which I used to dig deeper into my first design space. Overall, the methodology gave me a lot of clarity and showed me many issues that I had not previously considered or was not aware of. It has helped me to efficiently find a good visualization of various topics I already know a little about, and to discover connections and new possibilities within these areas.
01 Collective Excercice¶
In the “Big Round”, to be honest, I didn’t understand a lot of points acoustically and as a result I did not contribute as much thematically. Nevertheless, it helped me to understand the approach of the methodology.
After that, we tested the method again in the group and had a successful brainstorming round and drew cards that worked much better for me thematically. I was therefore very excited to put together my own Atlas and to find the right cards and topics for me afterwards.
02 Personal AoWS¶
As a first draft, I looked through all the cards and formed pairs that resulted in interesting themes for me, which I then sorted out and found 3 favourite pairs. The decision to choose a final pair was not easy for me, because there was a lot of interesting potential in all of them. Thus I decided for an area that has been on my mind a lot this past year. How can we use AI’s and data in a way that it makes sense?
03 Additions¶
In addition to the existing cards, I have considered one opportunity area and two random triggers that I have personally encountered in the past and that are very important to me. One is the area of digital collaboration, which got rediscovered intensly around the time of the pandemic and required pure remote collaboration. It has proven to be a new opportunity area for many technologies. My other area of interest is inclusion and accessibility. Both of these vast topics could actually be opportunity areas as well, but I have classified them as random triggers because I think they should actually be considered in all opportunity areas that one chooses. The separation of the “similar” topics is also consciously chosen because inclusion is often quickly labeled as an accessibility topic, but also includes cultural inclusion, linguistic inclusion, gender inclusion and much more. As in my understanding, these topics are as well a part of equality and kill-the-heteropatriarchy, but in my opinion were not directly visible among the proposed topics.
04 Multiscalar Personal Design Space¶
I have merged my personal AoWS with my previous personal experience and toolset to create a multiscalar design space. I collected first references and projects that match my interests and the chosen design space and put methods, courses, weak signals, infrastructures and possible intervention areas into context from my point of view.
05 My Design Space¶
01 First Draft¶
In my final atlas, I added more cards from the deck that fit thematically and emerged from the multiscalar design space. The combination of technology, collaboration, sustainability and inclusion leads to many ideas in the open source area. AI’s and data that can be used to drive society forward, foster collaboration and promote inclusion. First ideas that came into my mind are in the field of maker education adn digital collaboration from human to human or from human to machine. Because I believe it is important not only to make technology usable for all but also to make it understood by all and to give citizens more control over their own data sharing. Of course, this is also the area that seems most tangible and feasible to me, but there are surely many more areas to research in this design space, which I am very excited about.