Design fiction is not only objects — it is also narrative. But not narrative in the traditional literary sense: narrative arcs embedded in artefacts, in sequences of media, in performances. Speculative storytelling is the art of building stories about the future that open conversation instead of closing it in anxiety.
The greatest risk of futurist storytelling is dystopian paralysis. Black Mirror, many science fiction films and much tech communication have accustomed us to futures in which technology crushes us and we can do nothing about it. This kind of narrative provokes, but often leaves only powerlessness. Constructive speculative storytelling starts from a different premise: every future shown is still open to collective choice.
Anthony Dunne and Fiona Raby distinguish between design that reassures and design that productively disturbs. The key is the direction of provocation. A constructive narrative arc often follows this structure: familiar world → estranging element → revelation of hidden assumptions → opening towards alternatives. Not "here is the horror", but "here is a possibility — what do you think? What would you do?".
Superflux is a master of this balance. "Mitigation of Shock" shows a flat adapted to the climate crisis — unsettling in its plausibility — but the installation invites us to ask what we can do today, not just to frighten us. "Drone Aviary" imagines drones as everyday urban infrastructure, opening debate on surveillance, public space and civic agency. The provocation is realistic, but the space for response is real.
There are accessible narrative formats for those who are not professional writers. "Diegetic micro-narrative": three sentences on a label back, a tweet from the future, an imaginary Amazon review. The "day in the life": following a character through a day in the speculative world, documented with photos, screenshots, objects. The "before/after": showing the same place or person before and after a scenario change. Each format can be realised with simple means.
At Relatronica, we believe speculative storytelling is a tool for deliberative democracy. When you tell a future in a way people can discuss — not passively suffer it — you are creating conditions for more conscious collective choices. Avoiding difficult scenarios is not required: accompanying them with questions, not verdicts, is. The future is not written: we are writing it, and telling it well is part of civic work.