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Headlines from the Future

A participatory activity to support aspirational goal setting, by imagining a more positive future.

Stats

Suggested Time

30 Minutes

Level of Difficulty

Easy

Materials Needed

Collage materials like old magazines, scissors, glue or tape, pens and markers

Participants

Design team, project stakeholders, co-designers


Process Phase

Use this method when you want your project stakeholders to dream big! This creative activity prompts people to look beyond current constraints and imagine what success could look like in an ideal world. It can be used to support participatory goal-setting or exploring hopes and fears for a project. What about if nothing changes at all?

Steps

  1. Have participants find a clear workspace and select their collage materials.
  2. Give participants the prompt: ‘If this project is a big success, what will be written about it five years from now? What would the future magazine headline be?’
  3. Then instruct participants to write a magazine headline and (optional) create an image for the front cover of the magazine reflecting that success.
  4. Have each participant share their headline, and share their reflections on some of these additional prompts: What obstacles currently stand in the way of this success? What fears are you holding? How might we overcome those obstacles? What tangible results will we observe if we’re successful in five years?
  5. You finish the exercise here if your aim is just to inspire and energize your participants. If you are using the exercise for goal setting, the final step can be a facilitated discussion to align on a collective North Star or shared set of goals for the project.

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