Service Design Tools

Tomorrow's Narratives

Explore future service scenarios through storytelling. This exercise helps teams prepare for various possibilities and envision implications.

Duration
2.5 hours
Group Size
5-8
Category
Service Design Tools
Difficulty
Easy
Participants will:

  • Explore potential future service scenarios.

  • Prepare for different possible futures.

  • Generate innovative service concepts.

  • Challenge current assumptions.

  • Enable strategic planning.

  • Inspire creative thinking.

  • Develop resilient service strategies.

Participants will create future narratives and stories to communicate a shared vision.
Balance plausibility with imagination. Include both gradual and sudden changes. Consider multiple dimensions of change. Make narratives specific and detailed. Focus on human experiences. Consider unintended consequences. Use narratives to inspire, not predict. Update based on emerging trends.

  1. Define the time horizon for your narratives (5-20 years).

  2. Identify key forces shaping the future:


  • Technological developments

  • Social and cultural changes

  • Economic shifts

  • Environmental factors

  • Political changes.


  1. Create multiple future scenarios:


  • Optimistic.

  • Pessimistic.

  • Surprise or discontinuous.


  1. Develop detailed narratives for each scenario:


  • How do people live and work?

  • What technologies are prevalent?

  • How do social structures function?

  • What services are needed?


  1. Explore implications for current service design.

  2. Identify strategies that work across scenarios.

  3. Use insights for strategic planning.

  4. Update narratives as the world changes.

Unlock Step-by-Step Instructions

Create a free account to access step-by-step instructions, agendas, and resources for all activities.

For Facilitators

  • Review participant profiles and expectations
  • Prepare all materials and supplies
  • Test technology and room setup

For Participants

  • Complete pre-session survey
  • Review background materials
  • Prepare examples or case studies

Unlock Pre-Work Requirements

Create a free account to access step-by-step instructions, agendas, and resources for all activities.


  • Future research and trend analysis.

  • Narrative writing templates.

  • Scenario planning frameworks.

  • Creative writing materials.

  • Visual storytelling tools.

  • Strategy planning documents.

  • Workshop facilitation materials.

  • Documentation and sharing tools.

Unlock Materials Required

Create a free account to access step-by-step instructions, agendas, and resources for all activities.

  • Facilitator Guide (PDF)
  • Participant Workbook Template
  • Presentation Slides
  • Printable Materials

Unlock Resources & Templates

Create a free account to access step-by-step instructions, agendas, and resources for all activities.

Discussion

0/2000
Loading comments...

Related Exercises

See all exercises

Wild Card Analysis

1.8 hours

Wild Card Analysis helps you explore low-probability, high-impact events. These events can disrupt assumptions. "Wild cards" help organizations prepar...

Service design tools

Dynamic Personas

2.5 hours

Evolve your personas to anticipate user behavior. Identify key design interventions that guide users toward desired future states. This exercise helps...

Service design tools

System Map

2.5 hours

A system map visually represents all actors involved in a service and their connections. It clarifies how materials, energy, information, money, and d...

Service design tools