Speculative design is a design practice that is concerned with future design proposals of a critical nature. It is an approach to design that focuses on imagining future scenarios and possibilities. Speculative design can be distinguished from traditional design and affirmative design as the latter types are considered the conventional design that operates within the commercial borders where the aim of designing is profitability. However, speculative design does not aim to be profitable but can be considered an exploratory design genre. The goal of speculative design is not to provide definite answers, but to generate questions and provoke thought. It is a tool for critical thinking that can be used by individuals, organizations, and society as a whole. Speculative design relies on speculation and proposition; its value comes from speculating about future scenarios where design is used in a particular context to showcase a notion or an idea of debate. The most significant aim of speculative design is to enact change rather than conforming to the status quo.

Speculative design is concerned with addressing big societal issues with design processes and systems. It tries to imagine what it would be like to design without the current limitations of technology, culture, and politics in mind. Speculative design provides designers with the tools to speculate upon social, ethical, and political implications of new technologies. It allows designers to imagine what the future might look like if different solutions were adopted. Speculative design can facilitate ways to look forward but also consider the hidden impact, influence, and future ecosystems. It can prepare us for these challenges and how we might need to design based on technologies available and the potential state of the world at that point in time.

In summary, speculative design is a design practice that focuses on imagining future scenarios and possibilities to address big societal issues with design processes and systems. It is an exploratory design genre that aims to enact change rather than conforming to the status quo. Speculative design relies on speculation and proposition, and its value comes from speculating about future scenarios where design is used in a particular context to showcase a notion or an idea of debate.