Students interview each other about an imagined future they envision.
The method supports students in thinking creatively and imagining scenarios and possible developments in the future.
Students decide in their groups or with their partner when the interview takes place. This could be, for example, in 5, 10, or 50 years, or a specific year. The choice of time frame depends on the context.
Students come up with questions they want to ask the “future person” or a “future version” of themselves.
Help the students decide who will be the “interviewer” and who will play the role of the “future person.” They should also choose someone to act as the “secretary” to write down the answers.
The interviewer asks questions while the “future person” responds based on their ideas about changes and progress. Since the interview takes place in the future, students use the present tense in both questions and answers. However, the interviewer can also ask questions about the past, such as: “How did it start?”, “How did you get here?”, and “What made it a success?”. The “future person” fully immerses themselves in the role and lets their imagination run wild.
After the interview, the students review the answers and identify the most interesting insights, ideas, and visions of the future that emerged during the interview.
Students can formulate an overall focus question for the interview that includes a time perspective, for example: “What will the world look like in 20 years?”
They can imagine a future where their idea or solution has become a great success and use the future interview to explore how this came about.
Optionally, use the Silent Brainstorming method to help students generate questions for the interview before conducting it.
Alternatively, use the User Interview method to support students in creating an interview guide.
Instead of preparing questions in advance, students can also dive straight into the future interview and conduct it as a role play, improvising questions along the way.
Students can audio- or video-record the interview instead of writing down the answers. However, this can take quite some time to review, and it may distract from the content if students become too focused on their performance.
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