Spring 2026
Servicing Futures
All too often, discursive and speculative design are product-oriented, eschewing services as a medium for discursive practices. In this DRG, we will explore this tension through a mix of analytical and creative activities. Participants can expect to read about discursive practice(s), novel services, and to practice speculative design. We will seek to understand how service design can become a discursive medium as we explore and articulate what it means to design services speculatively and discursively.
Because this is somewhat uncharted territory, participation will be limited to those who have previously taken HCDE 529 Service Design, or those who are taking HCDE 418 Advanced Projects in HCDE (Service Design) in Spring 2026. Priority will be given to HCDE students, due to the department requirements for graduation/full-time enrollment.
Enrollment information
- Meeting time: Tuesdays, 4 - 6 p.m.
- Credits: 2
- Who should apply: MS students who have taken HCDE 529 Service Design, and BS students enrolled in HCDE 418 Advanced Projects in HCDE, Service Design, Spring Quarter 2026
- This DRG does not meet the research requirement for PhD students.
- To apply: Complete this Google Form
- Anticipated notification date: March 2, 2026
- Questions? Contact foxt@uw.edu.
Winter 2026
Science Fiction Archive of Technological Imaginaries
Technologies are a product of situated cultural and political contexts. This DRG posits the same is true for imagined technologies found in speculative fiction which has been described as not a genre to predict the future but material to help us imagine possibility.
This DRG will be the first to start the curation of the Science Fiction Archive of Technological Imaginaries which contain short stories and novellas from the late 20th century to early 21st century that were published in Analog Magazine. We will read short stories from these magazines, locate/index technologies within them, and analyze these technologies within what Lisa Yaszek describes as “the flow” of the magazine itself.
You'll gain: research methods experience, qualitative analysis skills, and critical perspective on where design ideas come from. Potential for co-authorship on publications. No SF experience required, just curiosity about how we imagine technological possibility.
Commitment: Weekly 1-2 hour meetings, 1-2 stories/week reading during the Winter quarter of 2026.
Questions? Contact rene2024@uw.edu via email.
Dr. Fox's Research Group Archive